The Word Originally Meaning the Other (Pillock)

Lyrics

[Intro]
Ah, gather 'round, lads, in the Nag's Head, Bethnal Green, November 1965.
That chill draft sneakin' in, 8 degrees outside, but we've got bitter ale warmin' us.

[Verse 1]
I remember me old mate, Tommy Wilkins, sittin' on that cracked leather barstool,
Pint of Watney's Red Barrel in his fist, foam slidin' down the glass like secrets.
He'd call his brother a right pillock, smilin' wide, cigarette stub in the brass ashtray.
But back in the day, 14th century, pillock meant somethin' else entirely.
From 'pillicock,' that Middle English word for a man's prick, straightforward as a butcher's knife.
Eric Partridge wrote it down in his dictionary, 1984 edition, page 567.

[Chorus]
Pillock, oh pillock, you shifted like the fog over the Thames.
Meant the thing hangin' there, now it's the fool stumblin' home.
In the East End, we twist words like we twist eels into jelly,
Half-eaten on the plate, vinegar sharp at 8 PM.
Pillock, you old sod, you make me smile.

[Verse 2]
Picture it: foggy evening, black Morris Minor parked out front on Roman Road,
Engine still tickin' cool, while inside, the coal heater fights the damp.
Tommy'd say, 'You're a pillock, mate,' not knowin' the Oxford English Dictionary traces it back.
To 1325, maybe, in some forgotten folk song from Yorkshire hills,
Where it was just a lad's name, innocent as a lamb, before the slang grabbed hold.
Now it's the idiot who spills his pint, stubs his toe on the bar rail.

[Bridge]
Lost voices in the chatter, those unnamed dockers from 1920s Wapping,
Who flipped it from body to brain, or lack thereof.
No record of the first one who said it that way, but it stuck, like smoke in your coat.

[Verse 3]
Me Brooklyn aunt, she'd laugh, call it similar to 'putz,' but that's Yiddish for the same.
Here in London, it's pillock, rhymin' with bollock, almost, but not quite.
Grab your glass, feel the rough edge, hear the clink against the bar.
The word changed, like ale goin' flat, but the insult's fresh as ever.

[Outro]
So here's to pillock, the word that meant the other, now means you, ya fool.
Smile with me, in the Nag's Head, 1965.