Handbags and Gladrags - Mary Coughlan

Once I was a young girl

And I thought all had to do was smile

For me you are still a young child

Who wants everything in style

But once you think you’re in you’re out

Cause you don’t mean a single thing without

The handbags and the gladrags

That your granddad had to sweat so he could buy you

Ever see a blind man cross the road

Trying to make the other side

Ever see a young girl growing old

Trying to make herself a bride

So what becomes of you my love

When they have finally stripped you of

The handbags and the gladrags

That your granddad had to sweat so he could buy you

Sing a song of six pence

Take a pocket full of rye

Take four and twenty black birds

And bake them all in a pie

You told me you missed school today

I suggested you just throw them all away

Your handbags and your gladrags

That your granddad had to sweat so he could buy you