Music by elton john Lyrics by bernie taupin Released as a uk b-side in september, 1973 When I was a boy I had a lot of fun I lived by the sea, I was a fisherman's son My mother she was a fisherman's wife She was scrubbing floors most of her life They said screw you I ain't got nothing to lose I could paper a matchbox With the money I use At the school I attended I got into fights I was beaten in an alley on a cold winter night The teachers cared less for the blood in our veins They got most of their thrills out of using a cane They said screw you Oh you bloody young fools I could get more sense Out of the back end of a mule So you see there's man who get paid for being slaves And men who get paid for being free And there's men behind bars who pray for the light And men in the suburbs who pray for the night And they're all trying to climb to the top of the mine And all of them say most of the way Screw you I worked in the mill from seven till nine Tears in my eyes nearly drove me half-blind Trying to make wages that weren't even there Taking hell from a foreman with the build of a bear He said screw you This is all you'll ever do It's the only existence for someone like you