In nineteen-eighty-five In a quiet fishing village where I was well known In a time of recession With a wife and three children, I built our new home As a backyard mechanic I'd fix up their old cars when something went wrong And I'd be the first one To give them a loan when their money was gone As I was a plumber And I was a carpenter in my spare time And out on the Grand Banks I worked on the big ones until eighty-nine And I was the musician At parties and weddings I played and I sang As I'm Jack of all trades But least I can say, I'm a fisherman I am a fisherman And just like my father before me, I'm a preacher, a teacher I can be anything That you want me to be And I am the critic Who fights the politicians to get the work done 'Cause I'm Jack of all trades, But least I can say, I'm a fisherman Now, the years have gone by There are tears in my eyes, and my children have grown My old boat is all dry There it sits on its side, down the path from my home My old house is still standing "For Sale," the sign reads, standing out on the lawn And to each I explains All the hardships and gains of a fisherman I am a fisherman And just like my father before me, I'm a preacher, a teacher I can be anything That you want me to be And I am the critic Who fights the politicians to get the work done 'Cause I'm Jack of all trades But least I can say, I'm a fisherman Now it's nineteen-ninety-four I go fishin' no more.... Don't you think that it's cruel? Almost fifty years old And today I was told I should go back to school I've got no diploma And I've got no papers to prove what I am Life can be hard for me 'Cause I've got no degree; I'm a fisherman I am a fisherman And just like my father before me, I'm a preacher, a teacher I can be anything That you want me to be And I am the critic Who fights the politicians to get the work done 'Cause I'm Jack of all trades But least I can say, I'm a fisherman Least I can say, I'm a fisherman