They’re moving father’s grave to build a sewer

AKA	They’re moving grandpas great to build a sewer They are shifting father’s grave to build a sewer

Lyrics

Music

Roud Index

10391

 They are moving father’s grave to build a sewer
 They are moving it regardless of expense
 They’re moving his remains, 
 To put in 9 inch drains
 To irrigate some posh folks’ residence
  
 Now what’s the point in having a religion
 And believing when you’re dead your troubles cease
 If some rich city chap
 Wants a pipeline for his tap
 They’ll never let a workman rest in peace
  
 Now in his life he never was a quitter
 And I don’t believe that he’s a quitter now
 But when the job is complete
 He’ll haunt the toilet seat
 And only let them go when he’ll allow
  
 Won’t there be some bloody consternation
 Won’t those city chaps all rant and rave
 But it’s no more than they deserve
 They’ve got a bloody nerve
 To muck about with my old father’s grave  

This is often described as a music hall song, but at the moment I can’t find any reference to it being sung before the 1940s, and its generally found in collections of rude songs. It may have emerged from the RAF in World War II, in 1957 Rodway and Pinto in their book The Common Muse described it as a contemporary “oral ballad collected in the Forces”.

Peter Sellers recorded a version which appeared on the B-side of his single with Sophia Loren “Goodness Gracious Me”.

Latest news: The Smart Set Vol.40 in 1913, in discussing a songwriter called Ed Peevey, suggests that, at the time, the mere sound of a minor barbershop chord provoked titles like Since Sister Lost Her Gold-Filled Teeth, Her Smile Gives Me a Pain or They are Moving Father’s Grave to Dig a Sewer. This mudcat thread finds references going back to 1903,though the earliest refer to its as Paddy or Willie’s Grave So the song was known in the 1900s in America…

Sources:

Lyrics: monologues.co.uk

The Clancy Brothers do it: