I'm Gonna Be an Engineer

When I was a little girl I wished I was a boy

I tagged along behind the gang and wore my corduroy

Everybody said I only did it to annoy

But I was gonna be an engineer

Mama said, "Why can′t you be a lady?

Your duty is to make me the mother of a pearl

Wait until you're older, dear, and maybe

You′ll be glad that you're a girl"

When I went to school I learned to write and how to read

History, geography and home economy

And typing is a skill that every girl is sure to need

To while away the extra time until the time to breed

And then they had the nerve to ask what would I like to be

I said, "I'm gonna be an engineer"

"Oh no, you only need to learn to be a lady

The duty isn′t yours for to try to run the world

An engineer could never have a baby

Remember, dear, that you′re a girl"

Well, I started as a typist but I studied on the sly

Working out the day and night so I could qualify

Every time the boss comes in he'd pinch me on the thigh

Said, "I never had an engineer"

"You owe it to the job to be a lady

The duty of the staff is to give the boss a whirl

The wages that you make are crummy, maybe

But it′s all you get 'cause you′re a girl"

Then Jimmy come along and we set up a conjugation

We were busy every night with love and recreation

I spent my days at work so he could get an education

And now he's an engineer

He said, "I know you′ll always be a lady

The duty of my darlin' is to love me all her life

Could an engineer look after a baby?

Remember, dear, that you're my wife"

Well, as soon as Jimmy got a job I studied hard again

Then busy at my turret lathe a year or two, and then

The morning that the twins were born, Jimmy says to them

"Kids, your mother was an engineer"

"You owe it to the kids to be a lady

Dainty as a dishrag, faithful as a chow

Stay at home, you got to mind the baby

Remember you′re a mother now"

Every time I turn around there′s something else to do

Cook a meal, mend a sock, sweep a floor or two

Listening to Jimmy Young, it makes me want to spew

I was gonna be an engineer

I only wish that I could be a lady

I'd do the lovely things that a lady′s supposed to do

I wouldn't even mind if only they would pay me

Then I could be a person too

Well, then the times got harder and me Jimmy's got the sack

I went down to Vickers, they were glad to have me back

I'm a third-class citizen, my wages tell me that

But I'm a first-class engineer!

The boss, he says, "We pay you as a lady

You only got the job 'cause I can't afford a man

With you, I keep the profits high as may be

You're just a cheaper pair of hands."

Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool

Listened to my lover and put him through his school

If I listen to the boss I′m just a bloody fool

And an underpaid engineer

I've been a sucker ever since I was a baby

As a daughter, as a mother, as a lover, as a dear

But I′ll fight 'em as a woman, not a lady

I'll fight ′em as an engineer

Solidarity forever

I′ll fight 'em as an engineer