The Irish Rovers - The Life of The Rover lyrics

The old ways are changing, you cannot deny The day of the traveller is over There is nowhere to go and there is nowhere to buy So farewell to the life of the rover Farewell to the tent and the old caravan To the tinker, the gipsy, the travelling man Farewell to the life of the rover Farewell to the ken and the travelling tongue Farewell to the romany talking The buying and selling, the old fortune telling The knock at the door and the hawking Farewell to the besom of heather and broom Farewell to the creel and the basket The folks of today, they would far soon and pay For a thing that's been made out of plastic Farewell to the tent . . . Farewell to the fields where we sweated and toiled The pulling and crowning and lifting They'll soon have machines and the travelling queens And there manfolks can better be shifting Farewell to the tent . . . The old ways are pa**ing and soon will be gone For progress is eye a big factor It's scent to afflict us and when they avict us They tow us away with a tractor You've got to move fast to keep up with the times For these days a man cannot donder There's a buy-lord to say you must be on your way And another to say you cant wander Farewell to the tent . . .