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 told me, "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.”
Then Jimmy come along and we set up a conjugation
We were busy every night with love and recreation
I spent the day at work so he could get his education
Well, now he's an engineer!
"You owe it to the kids to be a lady
Dainty as a dishrag, faithful as a chow
Stay at home, you got to mind the baby
Remember you're a mother now!"
Oh, but now that times are harder and me Jimmy's got the sack
I went down to Vickers, they were glad to have me back
But I'm a third-class citizen, my wages tell me that
And I'm a first-class engineer!
The boss, he says, "We pay you as a lady
You only got the job 'cause I can't afford a man
With you, I keep the profits high as may be
You're just a cheaper pair of hands."
Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool
I listened to my lover and I put him through his school
But if I listen to the boss, I'm just a bloody fool
And an underpaid engineer
I've been a sucker ever since I was a baby
As a daughter, as a wife, as a mother, and a dear
But I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady
Fight them as an engineer!