Pete Seeger - I’m 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 skill 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 to have me back
But I'm a third-class citizen
My wages tell me that
But I'm a first-class 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 profit's 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 bitch 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 sucker 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!