First Prize winner of the 2018 Geist Work Shanty Writing Contest
(Sung to the tune of “Rolling Down to Old Maui”)
Verse 1
I’ve a full-time gig with a snowplow rig
from November through to May.
With my trusty plow, it’s amazing how
I can make a decent pay.
While you snore and sleep in your cozy sheets
and your blankets tucked in tight,
I’m patrolling the street on the John Deere beat,
pushing snow and ice all night.
Chorus
With my coffee mug and my rum-filled jug,
it’s a renegade career.
I can travel afar, I can wreck your car.
I’m a snowplow buccaneer.
Chorus
Verse 2
Ye hangashores with your high-priced chores
and your suits of grey or blue,
you think we’re a bunch with a two-hour lunch
and a redneck point of view.
Yet I tell you straight that the thing I hate—
more than midnight shifts or cold—
is a speeding jerk on his way to work
trying to run me off the road.
Chorus
Verse 3
My favourite part of the job I do
is a source of constant thrill.
It’s a secret trick called the “plowman’s flick.”
All it takes is speed and skill.
Only minutes after you clear the end
of your driveway or your lane,
I plow right past with my blade half-mast,
and I block you in again.
Chorus