The Thing About Fish

What is it about fish?

You may never have been to sea,

Never eaten or seen

Fish that shaped your destiny

That’s the thing about fish

We’ve heard all the stories and folk songs that tell us

How people survived here throughout the years

And how the poor families of labouring fisherman

Got by on nothing but blood, sweat and tears

What is it about fish

That haunts the soul that wanders here

It takes us back

To a bleaker time, one more severe

That’s the thing about fish

If you read your history you know

That it’s always been said how hard done by we are

So oft repeated we’ve come to believe it

So we stand still and wonder why we never get far

What is it about fish

That makes us want to give it all away

Whatever we are

It’s fish that brought us where we are today

That’s the thing about fish

We just have to cast a glance over our shoulder

At the trail of false prophets who’ve led us far wrong

Be wary of those blaring patriot trumpets

As though there was doubt about where we belong

What is it about fish

And how our story has been told

Now its all about oil

Hydro, iron ore, nickel and gold

They don’t smell like fish

It brought us here from distant lands

Now we’re under the flake

Trying to scrub the smell off our hands

That’s the thing about fish

The strength that we gain from the journey we’ve taken

The loved ones we’ve lost to the treacherous foam

The pride that we share in the land of our forebears

Good fortunes we seek in the comforts of home

What is it about fish

Ancient symbol of Christian love

Feeds body and soul

From oceans ruled by god above

That's the thing about fish

You may never have been to sea

Never eaten or seen

Fish that shaped your destiny

That’s the thing about fish

That’s the thing about fish

That’s the thing about fish

That’s the thing about fish