My Bacon Roll

Album: Down the Road Wherever (2018)
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  • I never got the elbow
    Just telling you
    Before you go
    Only telling you
    Just so you know

    I never got the elbow
    I slung it in
    Had it up to here
    I just pulled the pin
    Went and had a beer

    I used to love a bit of folding
    Just for getting by
    A wad of cash
    Now that's out of date
    And so am I
    As pie and mash

    S'cuse me, s'cuse me
    Have you got my roll?
    My roll? My bacon roll?

    The time they took us bowling
    What was that about?
    I thought what a joke
    I just went out
    And had a smoke

    Then the white water rafting
    Just some know-it-all
    With the new regime
    There to show us all
    How to build a team

    He says, "what do you think we're doing?"
    I said, "don't ask me
    I've no idea"
    They all laughed at that
    That was pretty funny actually

    S'cuse me, s'cuse me
    Have you got my roll?
    My roll? My bacon roll?
    Have you got my roll?
    My roll? My bacon roll?

    I could order you a toastie
    Just like that one there
    Or the same in plain white bread
    When you're dealing with a toastie
    What do you prefer
    Brown or red?

    I never got the elbow
    Just telling you
    Before you go
    Only telling you
    Just so you know Writer/s: Mark Knopfler
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 4

  • AnonymousThe bacon roll rather than say a crushed avocado toastie is a symbol of how the man is lost in the modern working world. He was sacked for not playing the game...
  • John Wallace from SpainWell, I don't know where you did your team-building but when I was involved we certainly didn't start with a bacon roll. The bacon roll, has has already been stated, is symbolic of a working man and his life. We used to have bacon rolls when I was working at London Airport Gatwick in its very early days. I was on maintenance. We started early and at 9.30 a.m. the trolley lady would appear with the bacon rolls. Later, when I actually ran team-building, our fare was somewhat more exotic than a bacon roll. This is England in in the sixties so maybe it's different in the rest of the world.
  • Keith De La Rue from Melbourne, AustraliaI can understand this song from two different perspectives. The man who inspired the song may have been in a labouring job, but as Phil has commented, the rest of the lyrics suggest someone rebelling against "team-building" exercises. I have been on both sides of this - being in a technical job role when the team-building people were brought in (and rebelling against it), and later leading team-building exercises myself for teams of technical people who reacted pretty much the same way as the man in the song. Yes, this happens in sales teams, but also when organisations of all types wish to "modernise" more traditional working roles, or upskill people into new roles and structures. I totally get it.
  • Phil Norman from UkThe above explanation totally incorrect, surely the whole context of the song was about Corporate life, possibly in a Sales organisation which typically embarks on Morale boosting exercises such as Taking the Team Bowling or even White Water water Rafting and on these days the team would assemble to begin the day with a bacon roll.
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