When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself
The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous
And surly
They are like this cause they can’t tell good from evil
But I have seen the beauty of good
And the ugliness of evil
And have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own
Not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind
And possessing a share of the divine
Not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind
And possessing a share of the divine
And so none of them can hurt me
No one can implicate me in ugliness
Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him
We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes
Like the two rows of teeth
Upper and lower
To obstruct each other is unnatural
To feel anger at someone
To turn your back on him
These are obstructions
[Pre-Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
[Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Whatever this is that I am, it is flesh, a little spirit, an intelligence
Throw away your books
Stop letting yourself be distracted
That is not allowed
Instead, as if you were dying right now
Despise your flesh!
A mess of blood, pieces of bone, a woven tangle of nerves, veins, arteries
Consider what the spirit is
Air
And never the same air
But vomited out and gulped in again every instant
[Breathing]
Finally
The intelligence
Think of it this way
You are an old man
Stop allowing your mind to be a slave
To be jerked about by selfish impulses
To kick against fate and the present
And to mistrust the future
What is divine is full of Providence
Even chance is not divorced from nature
From the inweaving and enfolding of things
Governed by Providence
Everything proceeds from it
And then there is necessity and the needs of the whole world
Of which you are a part
Whatever the nature of the whole does, and whatever serves to maintain it
Is good for every part of nature
The world is maintained by change
In the elements and in the things they compose
That should be enough for you
Treat it as an axiom
Treat it as an axiom
[Pre-Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
[Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Oh!
What a glories thing
Waking up in the morning, baby
Oh!
What a glories thing
Yes, I have a whole day! Hey!
Oh!
What a glories thing
Waking up in the morning, baby
Oh-oh!
What a glories thing
Yes, I have a whole —— day!
[Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Remember how long you’ve been putting this off
How many extensions the Gods gave you
And you didn’t use them
At some point you have to recognize what world it is that you belong to
What power rules it and from what source you spring
That there is a limit to the time assigned you
And if you don’t use it to free yourself it will be gone
And will never
Return
The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous
And surly
They are like this cause they can’t tell good from evil
But I have seen the beauty of good
And the ugliness of evil
And have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own
Not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind
And possessing a share of the divine
Not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind
And possessing a share of the divine
And so none of them can hurt me
No one can implicate me in ugliness
Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him
We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes
Like the two rows of teeth
Upper and lower
To obstruct each other is unnatural
To feel anger at someone
To turn your back on him
These are obstructions
[Pre-Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
[Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Whatever this is that I am, it is flesh, a little spirit, an intelligence
Throw away your books
Stop letting yourself be distracted
That is not allowed
Instead, as if you were dying right now
Despise your flesh!
A mess of blood, pieces of bone, a woven tangle of nerves, veins, arteries
Consider what the spirit is
Air
And never the same air
But vomited out and gulped in again every instant
[Breathing]
Finally
The intelligence
Think of it this way
You are an old man
Stop allowing your mind to be a slave
To be jerked about by selfish impulses
To kick against fate and the present
And to mistrust the future
What is divine is full of Providence
Even chance is not divorced from nature
From the inweaving and enfolding of things
Governed by Providence
Everything proceeds from it
And then there is necessity and the needs of the whole world
Of which you are a part
Whatever the nature of the whole does, and whatever serves to maintain it
Is good for every part of nature
The world is maintained by change
In the elements and in the things they compose
That should be enough for you
Treat it as an axiom
Treat it as an axiom
[Pre-Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
[Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Oh!
What a glories thing
Waking up in the morning, baby
Oh!
What a glories thing
Yes, I have a whole day! Hey!
Oh!
What a glories thing
Waking up in the morning, baby
Oh-oh!
What a glories thing
Yes, I have a whole —— day!
[Chorus]
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Discard your thirst for books
So you won’t die in bitterness
But in cheerfulness and truth
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart
Remember how long you’ve been putting this off
How many extensions the Gods gave you
And you didn’t use them
At some point you have to recognize what world it is that you belong to
What power rules it and from what source you spring
That there is a limit to the time assigned you
And if you don’t use it to free yourself it will be gone
And will never
Return
I had good grandparents
A good mother and father
A good sister
Good teachers
Good servants
Relatives, friends
Nearly everything good
And that I never lost control of myself with any of them
Although I had it in me to do that
And I might have
Easily
But thanks to the gods
I was never put in that position
And so I escaped the test
I was never put in that position
And so I escaped the test
That I wasn’t longer raised by my granddad’s girlfriend
I didn’t lose my virginity too early
And didn’t enter adulthood until it was time
Hell, I put off
That I had
Someone
As a ruler and father
Who could keep me from arrogance
To live in a palace without body guards
Without fancy dresses or torches or statues or such like show
That you can live much like a regular person
Not remiss in action or careless a ruler
When carrying out official obligations
That I had the kind of brother I did
One whose character challenged me to
Improve my own
One whose love and affection
Enriched my whole life
That my children weren’t born
Stupid or physically deformed
That I wasn’t more talented
In rhetoric or poetry
They could have consumed me
If I had seen progress
I might never have given them up
That I conferred on the people who brought me up
The honors that they seemed to want early on
Instead of putting them off
Since they were still young
With the hope that I’d do it later
That I knew Apollonius
And Rusticus
And Maximus
That I was shown clearly and often
What it would be like to live as nature requires
[Chorus]
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
And if I’ve failed
It’s no one’s fault but mine
Cause I didn't pay attention
To what they told me
To what they taught me
Practically, step by step
That my body has held up
For so long through such a life
That I never laid a finger
On Benedicta
Or Theodotus
Even later
I was overcome by passion
I recovered
Even though
I often quarreled with Rusticus
I never did nothing that I regretted later
And though my mother died young
She spent her last years with me
And if I ever wished to help a man in need
I was never told that I had not the means
That I was never put in that position myself
Of having to take something from somebody else
That I have the wife I do
Obedient
Loving
Humble
That my children had competent teachers
For the remedies shown me in dream
When I was coughing blood
When my head was spinning
(Spinning)
(Spinning)
When I had an inclination
To philosophy
I didn’t fall into the hands of any
Sophist
That I didn't waste my time
On writers of histories
Or in the resolution of syllogisms
Or occupy myself about the investigation
Of appearances in the heavens
For all these things require the help
Of the gods and fortune
[Chorus]
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
A good mother and father
A good sister
Good teachers
Good servants
Relatives, friends
Nearly everything good
And that I never lost control of myself with any of them
Although I had it in me to do that
And I might have
Easily
But thanks to the gods
I was never put in that position
And so I escaped the test
I was never put in that position
And so I escaped the test
That I wasn’t longer raised by my granddad’s girlfriend
I didn’t lose my virginity too early
And didn’t enter adulthood until it was time
Hell, I put off
That I had
Someone
As a ruler and father
Who could keep me from arrogance
To live in a palace without body guards
Without fancy dresses or torches or statues or such like show
That you can live much like a regular person
Not remiss in action or careless a ruler
When carrying out official obligations
That I had the kind of brother I did
One whose character challenged me to
Improve my own
One whose love and affection
Enriched my whole life
That my children weren’t born
Stupid or physically deformed
That I wasn’t more talented
In rhetoric or poetry
They could have consumed me
If I had seen progress
I might never have given them up
That I conferred on the people who brought me up
The honors that they seemed to want early on
Instead of putting them off
Since they were still young
With the hope that I’d do it later
That I knew Apollonius
And Rusticus
And Maximus
That I was shown clearly and often
What it would be like to live as nature requires
[Chorus]
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
And if I’ve failed
It’s no one’s fault but mine
Cause I didn't pay attention
To what they told me
To what they taught me
Practically, step by step
That my body has held up
For so long through such a life
That I never laid a finger
On Benedicta
Or Theodotus
Even later
I was overcome by passion
I recovered
Even though
I often quarreled with Rusticus
I never did nothing that I regretted later
And though my mother died young
She spent her last years with me
And if I ever wished to help a man in need
I was never told that I had not the means
That I was never put in that position myself
Of having to take something from somebody else
That I have the wife I do
Obedient
Loving
Humble
That my children had competent teachers
For the remedies shown me in dream
When I was coughing blood
When my head was spinning
(Spinning)
(Spinning)
When I had an inclination
To philosophy
I didn’t fall into the hands of any
Sophist
That I didn't waste my time
On writers of histories
Or in the resolution of syllogisms
Or occupy myself about the investigation
Of appearances in the heavens
For all these things require the help
Of the gods and fortune
[Chorus]
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
Thanks to the gods
They did all they could
Through their gifts
Their help
Their inspiration
To ensure
That I could live
As nature demands
[Chorus]
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always cheerful
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Compassion
Unwavering adherence to decisions once he’d reached them
Indifference to superficial honors
Listening to anyone who could contribute to the public good
His dogged determination to treat people as they deserved
A sense of when to push and when to back off
His altruism
Not expecting his friends to keep him entertained at dinner
Or to travel with him
And anyone who had to stay behind to take care of something
Always found him the same when he returned
His searching questions at meetings
A kind of single-mindedness
Almost
Never content with first impressions or breaking off the discussion prematurely
His constancy to friends
Never getting fed up with them
Or playing favorite
And his advance planning
Well in advance
And his discreet attention to even minor things
His restrictions on acclamations
And all attempts to flatter him
His constant devotion to the empire’s needs
His stewardship at the treasury
Willingness to take responsibility
And blame
For both
His attitude to the gods
No superstitiousness
His attitude to men
No demagoguery
No currying favor
No pandering
Always sober, always steady, never vulgar or a prey to fads
No currying favor
No pandering
Always sober, always steady, never vulgar or a prey to fads
[Chorus]
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always cheerful
Strength, perseverance, self-control
The way he handled the material comforts that fortunehad supplied him in such abundance
Without arrogance and without apology
If they were there
He took advantage
If not
He didn’t miss them
No one ever called him glib
Or shameless, or pedantic
They saw him for what he was
A man tested by life
Accomplished
Unswayed by flattery, qualified to govern
Both himself and them
Both himself and them
His respect for people who practiced philosophy
At least, for those sincere about it
But without denigrating the others
Or listening to them
His ability to feel at ease with people
And put them at their ease without being pushy
His willingness to take adequate care of himself
Not a hypochondriac obsessed with his appearance
But not ignoring things either
With the result that he hardly ever needed medical attention
Or drugs or any sort of salve or ointment
This, in particular
(This, in particular)
(This, in particular)
His willingness to yield the floor to experts
In oratory, law, psychology, whatever
And to support them energetically
So each could fulfill his potential
He respected tradition without need to constantly congratulate himself for
Safe guarding traditional values
Not prone to go off on tangents
Or pulled in all directions
But sticking with the same old places
And the same old things
The way he could have one of his migraines
And then go right back to what he was doing
Fresh and at the top of his game
That he had so few secrets
Only state secrets
In fact
And not
All that many
Of those
The way he kept public actions
Within reasonable bounds
Games, building projects because he looked to what needed doing
And not the credit to be gained from doing it
No bathing at strange hours
No self-indulgent building projects
No concern for food, or the cut and color of his clothes
Or having attractive slaves
He never exhibited rudeness, lost control of himself, turned violent
No one saw him sweat
Everything was to be approached logically
And with due consideration
In a calm and orderly fashion
But decisively
With no loose ends
You could have said of him
That he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most find hard
To abstain from and all too easy to enjoy
But to be strong enough both to bear the one
And be sober in the other is the mark of a man
With a perfect and invincible soul
Ey
But to be strong enough both to bear the one
And be sober in the other is the mark of a man
With a perfect and invincible soul
[Chorus]
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always cheerful
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always cheerful
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Compassion
Unwavering adherence to decisions once he’d reached them
Indifference to superficial honors
Listening to anyone who could contribute to the public good
His dogged determination to treat people as they deserved
A sense of when to push and when to back off
His altruism
Not expecting his friends to keep him entertained at dinner
Or to travel with him
And anyone who had to stay behind to take care of something
Always found him the same when he returned
His searching questions at meetings
A kind of single-mindedness
Almost
Never content with first impressions or breaking off the discussion prematurely
His constancy to friends
Never getting fed up with them
Or playing favorite
And his advance planning
Well in advance
And his discreet attention to even minor things
His restrictions on acclamations
And all attempts to flatter him
His constant devotion to the empire’s needs
His stewardship at the treasury
Willingness to take responsibility
And blame
For both
His attitude to the gods
No superstitiousness
His attitude to men
No demagoguery
No currying favor
No pandering
Always sober, always steady, never vulgar or a prey to fads
No currying favor
No pandering
Always sober, always steady, never vulgar or a prey to fads
[Chorus]
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always cheerful
Strength, perseverance, self-control
The way he handled the material comforts that fortunehad supplied him in such abundance
Without arrogance and without apology
If they were there
He took advantage
If not
He didn’t miss them
No one ever called him glib
Or shameless, or pedantic
They saw him for what he was
A man tested by life
Accomplished
Unswayed by flattery, qualified to govern
Both himself and them
Both himself and them
His respect for people who practiced philosophy
At least, for those sincere about it
But without denigrating the others
Or listening to them
His ability to feel at ease with people
And put them at their ease without being pushy
His willingness to take adequate care of himself
Not a hypochondriac obsessed with his appearance
But not ignoring things either
With the result that he hardly ever needed medical attention
Or drugs or any sort of salve or ointment
This, in particular
(This, in particular)
(This, in particular)
His willingness to yield the floor to experts
In oratory, law, psychology, whatever
And to support them energetically
So each could fulfill his potential
He respected tradition without need to constantly congratulate himself for
Safe guarding traditional values
Not prone to go off on tangents
Or pulled in all directions
But sticking with the same old places
And the same old things
The way he could have one of his migraines
And then go right back to what he was doing
Fresh and at the top of his game
That he had so few secrets
Only state secrets
In fact
And not
All that many
Of those
The way he kept public actions
Within reasonable bounds
Games, building projects because he looked to what needed doing
And not the credit to be gained from doing it
No bathing at strange hours
No self-indulgent building projects
No concern for food, or the cut and color of his clothes
Or having attractive slaves
He never exhibited rudeness, lost control of himself, turned violent
No one saw him sweat
Everything was to be approached logically
And with due consideration
In a calm and orderly fashion
But decisively
With no loose ends
You could have said of him
That he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most find hard
To abstain from and all too easy to enjoy
But to be strong enough both to bear the one
And be sober in the other is the mark of a man
With a perfect and invincible soul
Ey
But to be strong enough both to bear the one
And be sober in the other is the mark of a man
With a perfect and invincible soul
[Chorus]
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Hard work and persistence
Self-reliance, always cheerful
Strength, perseverance, self-control
Greetings, thanks and congratulations
To Kenyon’s graduating class of 2005
There are these two young fish swimming along
And they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way
Who nods at them and says
“Morning, boys. How’s the water?”
And the two young fish swim on for a bit
And then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes
“What the hell is water?”
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches
The deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories
The story thing turns out to be one of the better
Less bullshitty conventions of the genre
But if you’re worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish
Please don’t be
I am not the wise old fish
The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that Are hardest to see and talk about
Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude
But the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence
Banal platitudes can have a life or death importance
Or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
Of course the main requirement of speeches like this is that I’m supposed to talk about your liberal arts education’s meaning
To try to explain why the degree you are about to receive has actual human value
Instead of just a material payoff
So let’s talk about the single most pervasive cliché in the commencement speech genre
Which is that a liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is about, quote:
“Teaching you how to think.”
Think
If you’re like me as a student
You’ve never liked hearing this
And you tend to feel a bit insulted by the claim that you needed anybody
To teach you how to think
Since the fact that you even got admitted to a college this good seems like proof that you already know how to think
Think (faded)
Think (faded)
But I’m going to posit to you that the liberal arts cliché
Turns out not to be insulting at all
Because the really significant education in thinking that we’re supposed to get in a place like this
Isn’t really about the capacity to think
But rather about the choice of what to think about
If your total freedom of choice regarding what to think about seems too obvious to waste time discussing
I’d ask you to think about fish and water
And to bracket for just a few minutes
Your scepticism about the value of the totally obvious
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
To Kenyon’s graduating class of 2005
There are these two young fish swimming along
And they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way
Who nods at them and says
“Morning, boys. How’s the water?”
And the two young fish swim on for a bit
And then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes
“What the hell is water?”
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches
The deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories
The story thing turns out to be one of the better
Less bullshitty conventions of the genre
But if you’re worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish
Please don’t be
I am not the wise old fish
The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that Are hardest to see and talk about
Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude
But the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence
Banal platitudes can have a life or death importance
Or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
Of course the main requirement of speeches like this is that I’m supposed to talk about your liberal arts education’s meaning
To try to explain why the degree you are about to receive has actual human value
Instead of just a material payoff
So let’s talk about the single most pervasive cliché in the commencement speech genre
Which is that a liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is about, quote:
“Teaching you how to think.”
Think
If you’re like me as a student
You’ve never liked hearing this
And you tend to feel a bit insulted by the claim that you needed anybody
To teach you how to think
Since the fact that you even got admitted to a college this good seems like proof that you already know how to think
Think (faded)
Think (faded)
But I’m going to posit to you that the liberal arts cliché
Turns out not to be insulting at all
Because the really significant education in thinking that we’re supposed to get in a place like this
Isn’t really about the capacity to think
But rather about the choice of what to think about
If your total freedom of choice regarding what to think about seems too obvious to waste time discussing
I’d ask you to think about fish and water
And to bracket for just a few minutes
Your scepticism about the value of the totally obvious
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
What the hell is water?
Next
Stage
In the mystery of the human development
Is that of
Old age
Coming on
Just about when you learn
How to do
What they have been trying to teach you
You begin to fumble
And then you have to
Pull yourself together
And for another few years
Act as though
You still could do it
And then everybody else begins to see
That he’s not doing so well
They put another waiter in
To take over the job for you
And
That kind of thing
You are gradually
Eased out
You are gradually
Eased out
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
In other words
The first function
Of the
Local social mythology
Was to
Bring you from childhood
Dependency
To responsibility
In terms
Of the social demand
And then just about when you are beginning to feel good about it all
The society that has said
You’ve got to do what we want
Begins to say
Well
It looks as though you can’t do what we want
So
You are on your own
Then you have what’s called a nervous breakdown
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
The
Next problem then
In a mythological order
That is going to take care of us
Is to tell us what to do with our psyches
When that begins to happen
The economic problem isn’t the main one
Not that somebody should
You know
Give you a fishing rod
And send you out fishing
And then have dinner for you when you come home
It’s what are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
You’ve become
Somewhat
Aware
Of the world
Of the mystery of the world
And you just don’t want to go doodling along with silly little children’s tasks
And that’s not what you’re
Worth
It’s not what you are ready for
There are problems to face
The most challenging one
Is death
Man is the only animal that knows he’s going to die
And as soon as you fumble that ball
It’s coming
It’s coming
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
So
We find
This
Wonderful problem
And mythologies
In general
The religions
Have served it
They have provided
Images
Tasks
Discipline
That carry the child
From
Childhood dependency to responsibility
Rather simple responsibilities
Those that society says
You’ve got to
Accept
And then
They’ve provided
A way out
They tell you
That daddy
Will beat a bear
And you’re going back home
Now this isn’t quite enough anymore
Either [audience laughter]
Is it any wonder that our clergymen look a little bit anxious these days?
[audience laughter fades]
Stage
In the mystery of the human development
Is that of
Old age
Coming on
Just about when you learn
How to do
What they have been trying to teach you
You begin to fumble
And then you have to
Pull yourself together
And for another few years
Act as though
You still could do it
And then everybody else begins to see
That he’s not doing so well
They put another waiter in
To take over the job for you
And
That kind of thing
You are gradually
Eased out
You are gradually
Eased out
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
In other words
The first function
Of the
Local social mythology
Was to
Bring you from childhood
Dependency
To responsibility
In terms
Of the social demand
And then just about when you are beginning to feel good about it all
The society that has said
You’ve got to do what we want
Begins to say
Well
It looks as though you can’t do what we want
So
You are on your own
Then you have what’s called a nervous breakdown
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
The
Next problem then
In a mythological order
That is going to take care of us
Is to tell us what to do with our psyches
When that begins to happen
The economic problem isn’t the main one
Not that somebody should
You know
Give you a fishing rod
And send you out fishing
And then have dinner for you when you come home
It’s what are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
What are you gonna do?
With that
Power inside you
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
You’ve become
Somewhat
Aware
Of the world
Of the mystery of the world
And you just don’t want to go doodling along with silly little children’s tasks
And that’s not what you’re
Worth
It’s not what you are ready for
There are problems to face
The most challenging one
Is death
Man is the only animal that knows he’s going to die
And as soon as you fumble that ball
It’s coming
It’s coming
[Chorus]
The first half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
And the last half of life
When there is a knock on the door
You think
‘Here it comes‘
‘Here it comes’
So
We find
This
Wonderful problem
And mythologies
In general
The religions
Have served it
They have provided
Images
Tasks
Discipline
That carry the child
From
Childhood dependency to responsibility
Rather simple responsibilities
Those that society says
You’ve got to
Accept
And then
They’ve provided
A way out
They tell you
That daddy
Will beat a bear
And you’re going back home
Now this isn’t quite enough anymore
Either [audience laughter]
Is it any wonder that our clergymen look a little bit anxious these days?
[audience laughter fades]