We have the luxury of literacy
We'll spend it before it's all gone
Repeat the refrain of history again
And wonder where we went wrong
Why do the rich tell us they're smarter
Is it just because they paid for the schools?
We grimly laugh at the figments of power
And ponder how fate chose such ghouls
(refrain)
Our preachers and gurus are making up lies
For payment they take the first water
Their wisdom brings rules, they claim all they want
Is some time with our sons and our daughters
We have the luxury of literacy
We'll spend it before it's all gone
Repeat the refrain of history again
And wonder where we went wrong
The water went bad so we all moved upriver
Further inland and farther uphill
Life was beautiful, as it "always once was"
But the strangers downstream all took ill
(refrain, instrumental)
The princes and paupers march off to war
Breaking our hearts with their drums
When the children come home, we can pick heroes
From the old men they have become
(refrain)
When everyone claims they're a martyr
How do we know who to burn?
9/4/23
Demo - 2023 09 08
Also see the rough essay, coincidentally titled "The Luxury of History", that I wrote the day before.
