Where have all the good people gone?
Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of lies,
Four and twenty politicians with fire in their eyes.
When the lies were exposed they change their tune to sing,
“I didn’t know. It’s not my fault. It wasn’t me.”
Where’ve all the good people gone?
I don’t know, I don’t know.
What’s to become of us all?
I don’t know, I don’t know.
I bet the streets of heaven are empty tonight.
Well Humpty Dumpty sat up on his wall
So high above the others, and self appointed as judge of them all.
Well my dear Humpty, I hope that you will recall:
That after pride, there comes a fall.
Where’ve all the good people gone?
I don’t know, don’t know.
What’s to become of us all?
I don’t know, I don’t know.
I bet the streets of heaven are empty tonight.
Mary’s little lamb was once as white as snow.
It followed Mary to the dirty places she would go.
The alcohol and chemicals brought wolves to steal her soul.
And now her heart is black as coal.
Where’ve all the good people gone?
I don’t know. I don’t know.
What’s to become of us all?
I don’t know. Oh, I don’t know.
I bet the streets of heaven are empty tonight,
While the sinners and the hypocrites sit outside.
I pray to God that I might be wrong,
‘Cause I’m not quite sure which side I’ll be sitting on.
Probably the most pessimistic song I've ever written, this one is another old one for me. Despite the grim outlook on the afterlife, it is actually intended to make the receiver think about their own life in relation to eternity (as I did as I wrote the song) and make any changes that need to be made. The last 2 lines of the song are the key. Although Salvation is assured through Jesus Christ for those who put their faith in Him, we need to check ourselves: Do we really put our faith in him? Sinners and hypocrites (those who do not truly believe what they preach) share the same fate. Scary.
ReplyDeleteThe context of the song was inspired by my friend and former pastor Peter Kane, who used to be a kick-ass punk in his youth playing in a rock and roll band. He once told me how his band sang a song all about the nursery rhymes and I thought that was cool. So I tried my own hand at a similar idea.