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The Idiot - Stan Rogers (Cover) + Bonus Verse by Seth Staton Watkins
The original TikTok of this song has over 2 million views at this point which is absurd and I have received numerous requests to make a full version so here it is! I added the harmony that David Coffin (the chanty man) added in a TikTok duet and I added a verse at the end. As much as I love Stan Rogers, this song never sat right with me. I believe it presents a false dichotomy, to either be a slave to a capitalist overlord or a beggar taking handouts. There is a third option. A world in which the riches of the refineries and mines, offices and manufacturing plants, are shared equally among those who labor within, and not hoarded by distant despots that all too often sacrifice in the name of profit those who labor. I hope you enjoy my rendition of The Idiot by Stan Rogers.
Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
I often take these night shift walks
When the foreman’s not around
I turn my back on the cooling stacks
And make for open ground
Far out beyond the tank-farm fence
Where the gas flare makes no sound
I forget the stink and I always think
Back to that Eastern town
[Verse 2]
I remember back six years ago
This western life I chose
And every day the news would say
Some factory’s going to close
Well, I could have stayed to take the dole
But I’m not one of those
[Refrain]
I take nothing free, and that makes me
An idiot, I suppose
[Verse 3]
So I bid farewell to the Eastern town
I never more will see
But work I must so I eat this dust
And breathe refinery
Oh I miss the green and the woods and streams
And I don’t like cowboy clothes
[Refrain]
But I like being free, and that makes me
An idiot, I suppose
[Verse 4]
So come all you fine young fellows
Who’ve been beaten to the ground
This western life’s no paradise
But it’s better than lying down
Oh the streets aren’t clean, and there’s nothing green
And the hills are dirty brown
But the government dole will rot your soul
Back there in your home town
[Verse 5]
So bid farewell to the Eastern town
You never more will see
There’s self-respect and a steady cheque
In this refinery
You will miss the green and the woods and streams
And the dust will fill your nose
[Refrain]
But you’ll be free, and that makes me
An idiot, I suppose
[Bonus Verse]
These are the words I tell myself
When I miss my own hometown
I tell myself that I'm doing right
by turning that welfare down
But now I see for you and me
That I want those woods and streams
For I owe my life to this workers strife
Why can't I just be free