there's a man i meet walks up our street   he's a worker for the council   has been twenty years   and he takes no lip off nobody   and litter off the gutter   puts it in a bag   and never seems to mutter   and he packs his lunch in a "sunblest" bag   the children call him "bogie"   he never lets on   but i know 'cause he once told me   he let me know a secret about the money in his kitty   he's gonna buy a dinghy   gonna call her dignity      and i'll sail her up the west coast   through villages and towns   i'll be on my holidays   they'll be doing their rounds   they'll ask me how i got her i'll say "i saved my money"   they'll say isn't she pretty that ship called dignity      and i'm telling this story   in a faraway scene   sipping down raki   and reading maynard keynes   and i'm thinking about home and all that means   and a place in the winter for dignity   and i'll sail her up the west coast   through villages and towns   i'll be on my holidays   they'll be doing their rounds   they'll ask me how i got her i'll say "i saved my money"   they'll say isn't she pretty that ship called dignity      and i'm thinking about home   and i'm thinking about faith   and i'm thinking about work   and i'm thinking about how good it would be   to be here some day      on a ship called dignity   a ship called dignity   that ship