DESCRIPTION:
Nancy Nicolson wrote this song for the men of the Piper Alpha oil rig who lost their lives in an explosion and fire in 1988. 167 men died, only 59 survived. The Macs included the song on their 1990 album "Flames on the Water".

On Saturday 6 July 2013, it will be 25 years since the Piper Alpha disaster cast a shadow over the North Sea oil industry and the city of Aberdeen.

Chorus
Who pays the piper, who pays the piper
Who pays the piper, who calls the tune?
Who pays the piper, what is the fee?
Flames on the water, death on the sea

And the tune is old and has always told
How the great, brave and bold they do flourish
How bravely they gamble with other men's lives
And profit as other men perish

And the tune resounds and is always found
Where the ground receives yet another
Father of dazed and despairing young bairns
Or a son of a desolate mother

And the price is dear for the folk who fear
And who bear the burden of sorrow
For those who were lost where the graph of the cost
Crossed the graph of rich pickings tomorrow