So To Speak

They're seriously saying it's prolonging me life
If I'll only submit to the surgical knife?
What are the odds on a month or a week?
When the betting shop's closing its doors, so to speak.

When you're laid like a piece of old meat on a slab
And they cut and they slice, and they poke and they jab
And they'll grill ye and burn ye, and wish ye good health
With their radium chemo and God knows what else?

Well ye can't fault the science, though the logic is weak
Is it really an eternal life we should seek?
That ship has sailed, that ship has sailed
That ship has already sailed... so to speak.

You must finish the work, son
We're trying, Father
I don't mean the men, I mean you! You came home for a reason
Now get to it.

Finish this labour son, finish this task
And you'll find absolution if ye do as I ask
Remember your father, look after your son
He's the bridge to the future when all's said and done.

I came home for a reason that I couldn't see
It was easier fighting the storms out at sea
Yet I'm tied to the wheelhouse ‘til I set this right
But the ship of my heart wasn't built for this fight.

But when the ship sails and the course has been set
And the wind's in the offing and the sails have been let
And the hatches are full, and the hull doesn't leak
And the ship is all ready to sail... so to speak.

I'm tired and I'm fading and losing the light
And I've no way to tell if it's day or it's night
Follow your head, it's the harbor ye seek
And this ship is ready to sail, this ship is ready to sail
This ship is ready to sail...
So to speak.