Peggy Seeger - Gonna Be an Engineer lyrics

When I was a little girl I wished I was a boy I tagged along behind the gang and wore my corduroys Everybody said I only did it to annoy But I was gonna be an engineer Mamma 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 Dainty as a Dresden statue, gentle as a Jersey cow Smooth as silk, gives cream and milk Learn to coo, learn to moo That's what you do to be a lady, now When I went to school I learned to write and how to read History, geography and home economy And typing is a sk** 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 says, "I'm gonna be an engineer" "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" She's smart --- for a woman I wonder how she got that way? You get no choice, you get no voice Just stay mum, pretend you're dumb That's how you come to be a lady, today Well, I started as a typist but I studied on the sly Working out the day and night so I could qualify And every time the boss came in, he pinched me on the thigh Said, "I've 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 get are crummy, maybe But it's all you get, 'cause you're a girl" Then Jimmy came along and we set up a conjugation We were busy every night with loving 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 darling is to love me all her life Could an engineer look after or obey me? Remember, dear, that you're my wife" As soon a Jimmy got a job, I studied hard again Then busy at me turret-lathe a year or two, and then The morning that the twins were born, Jimmy says to them "Your mother was an engineer" "You owe it to the kids to be a lady Dainty as a dish-rag, 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 or mend a sock or 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 s'posed to do I wouldn't even mind if only they would pay me Then I could be a person too What price for a woman? You can buy her for a ring of gold To love and obey, without any pay You get a cook and a nurse for better or worse You don't need a purse when a lady is sold Oh, but now the times are harder and me Jimmy's got the sack I went down to Vicker's, they were glad o have me back But I'm a third-cla** citizen, my wages tell me that But I'm a first-cla** engineer The boss he says "We pay you as a lady You only got the job because I can't afford a man With you I keep the profits high as may be You're just a cheaper pair of hands" You got one fault, you're a woman You're not worth the equal pay A b**h or a tart, you're nothing but heart Shallow and vain, you've got no brain Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool Listened to my lover and I put him through his school If I listen to the boss, I'm just a bloody fool And an underpaid engineer I been a s**er ever since I was a baby As a daughter, as a mother, as a lover, as a dear But I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady I'll fight them as an engineer