The song's lyrics are notoriously unintelligible owing to Jobson's diction. This has been sent up in a television advertisement for Maxellaudio cassettes which features printed (incorrect) "translations" of the words.[3] The chorus, often misquoted, is actually "Ahoy! Ahoy! Land, sea and sky".
Jobson has said that the lyrics were written about the recruitment of Scottish youths into the army and more specifically about a friend who had been killed whilst on a tour of duty in Northern Ireland.[4][5]
Local legend still persists that the valley mentioned is a reference to High Valleyfield, known locally as "the Valley", a village with a reputation for "mini warfare" between its residents and those of nearby towns and villages (namely Torryburn, Rosyth, Oakley and Inverkeithing), near Skids' home town of Dunfermline.[citation needed]