First Prize winner of the 2018 Geist Work Shanty Writing Contest

(Sung to the tune of “Rolling Down to Old Maui”)

Verse 1

I’ve a full-time gig with a snowplow rig

from November through to May.

With my trusty plow, it’s amazing how

I can make a decent pay.

While you snore and sleep in your cozy sheets

and your blankets tucked in tight,

I’m patrolling the street on the John Deere beat,

pushing snow and ice all night.

Chorus

With my coffee mug and my rum-filled jug,

it’s a renegade career.

I can travel afar, I can wreck your car.

I’m a snowplow buccaneer.

Chorus

Verse 2

Ye hangashores with your high-priced chores

and your suits of grey or blue,

you think we’re a bunch with a two-hour lunch

and a redneck point of view.

Yet I tell you straight that the thing I hate—

more than midnight shifts or cold—

is a speeding jerk on his way to work

trying to run me off the road.

Chorus

Verse 3

My favourite part of the job I do

is a source of constant thrill.

It’s a secret trick called the “plowman’s flick.”

All it takes is speed and skill.

Only minutes after you clear the end

of your driveway or your lane,

I plow right past with my blade half-mast,

and I block you in again.

Chorus