A Hundred Grande

Words & Music by Tim Hus
Copyright Tim Hus Music 2008


We were drinkin’ whiskey at the Oil Can
With a couple of hands from the crew
Talkin’ all about the Black Gold Rush
And workin’ the Alberta crude
Our derrick hand bought a round
He said “I got a story to tell
It happened on a Peace River lease
We were just cappin’ off a well
We had a driller from the East Coast
He was a real steady ringer too
At ten minutes to midnight
He laid down all of his tools”

Chorus:
As soon as I make a hundred grande that’ll be enough for me
I don’t want to spend another winter North of Grande Prairie
I don’t give a damn about oil in the sand
And I don’t want another dime
Tell everybody up North, I went home to the Maritimes

We all laughed and called him a fool
He said “That’s what I’d be
’Cause livin’ in an ATCO trailer
Ain’t no life for me
A boom is like a wellhead flare
It’s gonna burn out in time
So take a thousand miles of drill stem
And ram it where the sun don’t shine
I’ve got a girl in Shediac
And she’s always on my mind
And the stars out here don’t sparkle
Like they do in the Maritimes

Chorus

He got on the plane to Moncton
And we ain’t seen him since
There’s a brand new driller
Droppin’ weight on the button bits
And I’m still here in Ft. McMoney
But every now and then
I curse the mud and I curse the cold
But mostly I curse him
I’ll never forget the look on his face
When he side with a big white grin
So long to Alberta
I’m never comin’ back again

Chorus

Tag:

Tell everybody at the oil can that I told ‘em all goodbye
I send my best way out west from my home in the Maritimes