In The Lumberjack Song, what job does the singer want?

In “The Lumberjack Song,” the singer says he wants to be a lumberjack. The song turns an ordinary career change into an escalating comic fantasy about life in the forests of British Columbia.

The usual setup begins with a man dissatisfied with his current occupation, such as a barber, weatherman or pet-shop worker. He announces that he did not want that job and instead wanted to become a lumberjack, then sings about chopping trees, wearing checked shirts and enjoying the supposed freedom of the woods.

Michael Palin commonly performed the singer in the television and stage versions, although Eric Idle took the role in some later performances. The number was written by Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Fred Tomlinson, and first appeared in the ninth episode of Flying Circus in 1969.

The song is often remembered for its chorus of Mounties and its surprise final verse, which undercuts the macho lumberjack image with a playful confession about the singer's interests and identity.