Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl - Lady, What Do You Do All Day? lyrics

Lady, what do you do all day?
Lady, how do you spend your time? Lady?

Got no time to be standing here gossiping
Got no time to be answering beds need making
The dishes need washin'
And then to me dustin' and polishin'
Scrubbin' and sweepin' and
Sewin' and cleanin'
And cookin' and ironing – are you listenin'?
I'm a production line all by myself
Only my wages are missin'
Three kids of ages seven and two
Leisure is just a mythology
When it's over my head i can't go to bed
His temper or else psychology
Mary's bed-wetting and Tommy is jealous
The baby is yelling, it's driving me crazy
A nurse and a nanny until I'm a granny
But why is it nobody pays me?

I care for a lovely old mother-in law
She's eighty-seven and cranky
Husband's home with a feverish cold
Run for the tea and the hankies
The hot water bottle, the telly, the paper
And now the kids have it
It must be contagious
And now I'm the family medical staff
But where the hell are me wages?

If wives and mothers all took to their heels
You'd soon be needing an army
And paying them all union wages
I bet it'd drive you barmy all eyes and ears
All hands and feet my sign is Gemini
Should've been two of me
I do the work of a dozen a day
But where are the wages due to me?
With wages so low and prices so high
Budgeting must be meticulous
The hours I've spent looking for bargains
And cooking them's really ridiculous
And though my man's doing all that he can
What he brings home isn't making ends meet
And I'll have to go out for a wage meself
If the family's gonna keep eatin'

Hoy! Up in the morning before all the family
Get the grub on the table
Beds need making, the dishes need washing
It's everything done on the double
Drop the kids off at the school
And run for the bus
Don't you think it's outrageous?
I've more than enough with me labor of love
Now I'm doing another for wages

Me boss is as good as a boss can be
The office is just like a nursery
Smoothin' his tie, soothin' his trouble
Rememberin' his anniversary
Remind and hurry and scurry and worry
And into the frying pan, out of the cage
And it's home from home wherever I roam
But at least I'm gettin' my wages
On me way home I shop for the dinner
And then have a tidy around
Billy comes in, sit's down with a paper
Says "Girl, don't you ever sit down?"
Men of the world
Would you think it was strange?
Think it was right?
Think it was funny to slog every
Night at a job for free
After slogging all day for your money?

So give me my wages give me my due
I'm opting out of the system
Give me bonuses, overtime, sick leave
And paid holidays and a pension
Then I can strike work to rule or go slow
Or object to conditions and hours for wages
Would give me the power to have a say
In a world where a person who
Happens to be female is
Supposed to be happy to spend
All her time as a: Baby minder, sock finder
Bacon fryer, dish dryer
Floor sweeper, light sweeper
Brow smoother, mend the Hoover
Nappy folder, hand holder
Onion chopper, mess mopper
Button sewer, to-and-fro-er tidy-upper

What's for supper?

Money stretcher, run-and-fetch-er
Cake baker, back acher, early
Waker, bed maker
Breakfast maker, lunch maker, tea maker
Sandwich maker

Lady, what do you do all day?
Lady, it's your only life
When they ask you, what do you say?

Oh, I don't work i'm nothing but a housewife