Fits and Starts

Did You Ever Question the Setup?

The Ballad of Accounting

By Ewan MacColl

In the morning we built the city
In the afternoon walked through its streets
Evening saw us leaving

        We wandered through our days
as if they would never end
        All of us imagined we had
endless time to spend
        We hardly saw the crossroads
and small attention gave
        To landmarks on the journey
from the cradle to the grave,

cradle to the grave, cradle to the grave

Did you learn to dream in the morning?
Abandon dreams in the afternoon?
Wait without hope in the evening?

        Did you stand there in the
traces and let 'em feed you lies?
        Did you trail along behind
them wearing blinkers on your eyes?
        Did you kiss the foot that
kicked you, did you thank them for
their scorn?
        Did you ask for their
forgiveness for the act of being born,

act of being born, act of being born?

Did you alter the face of the city?
Make any change in the world you found?
Or did you observe all the warnings?

        Did you read the trespass
notices, did you keep off the grass?
        Did you shuffle up the
pavements just to let your betters pass?
        Did you learn to keep your
mouth shut, were you seen but never heard?
        Did you learn to be obedient
and jump to at a word,

jump to at a word, jump to at a word?

Did you demand any answers?
The who and the what and the reason why?
Did you ever question the setup?

        Did you stand aside and let
'em choose while you took second best?
        Did you let 'em skim the cream
off and give to you the rest?
        Did you settle for the shoddy
and did you think it right
        To let 'em rob you right and
left and never make a fight,

never make a fight, never make a fight?

What did you learn in the morning?
How much did you know in the afternoon?
Were you content in the evening?

        Did they teach you how to
question when you were at the school?
        Did the factory help you, were
you the maker or the tool?
        Did the place where
you were living enrich your life and then
Did you reach some
understanding of all your fellow men,

all your fellow men, all your fellow men?

Sublime and beautiful. Thanks to my friend Kelly for sending this my way.

Lyric of the Day

My mom thinks I need religion,
I think I need a shower
and something to eat.
Hey can I bum another cigarette?
and thanks for listening to me.
You know I don't like to steal
but I've got needs.
And I know nothing's never ever
gonna be okay again no how.
'Cause everything is just closing in,
and I don't know that I have one single friend.

The Bicycle Thief (Bob Forrest)
Boy at a Bus Stop