Sensational Singing Sewermen from Thames Water
The Singing Sewermen from Thames Water would like Brits to give the sewers a rest this Christmas, so the unconventional troupe has restyled the classic carol “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” into “This Christmas Think of Sewermen.”
The song, part of Thames Water’s “Bin It Don’t Block It” campaign, was recorded deep in the Victorian sewers of East London on a hand-held camera. They’re singing with real feeling, and no wonder: an estimated 500 tonnes of fat (or 1.1 million pounds) – goes down customers’ drains each December, causing nasty blockages and backups…and some unpleasant work for the sewermen, no doubt.
Here’s the lyrics in case you’d like to sing along!
This Christmas think of sewermen who tremble in dismay
When grease from goose and fatted fowl is idly poured away
It clogs the drains of London and it must be scraped away.Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin, throw it all in
Put your fat in the rubbish in a binSo when you’ve had your Christmas meal of turkey, wine and pud
Remember our poor sewermen and treat them as you should.
Don’t pour your hot fat down the drain ’cause it will do no good.Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin, throw it all in
Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin
Those Singing Sewermen are awesome. Surely they should be the Christmas No.1, not Rage against the Machine. These Thames Water blokes are proper, salt-of-the-earth workers who graft hard doing a tough job. People of Britain, make it happen: go to YouTube, watch the video of these guys singing so terribly and be a part of putting the Thames Water flushers where they belong – at the top of the UK pop charts!
This reminds me of a quote from “The Honeymooners” where Ed tells Ralph, “when you work in the sewer you don’t take anything for lunch that is finger licking good.”