Misery Is The River Of The World



The higher that the monkey can climb The more he shows his tail Call no man happy 'til he dies There's no milk at the bottom of the pail

God builds a church The devil builds a chapel Like the thistles that are growing 'Round the trunk of a tree All the good in the world You can put inside a thimble And still have room for you and me

If there's one thing you can say about Mankind There's nothing kind about man You can drive out nature with a pitch fork But it always comes roaring back again

Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world

The higher that the monkey can climb The more he shows his tail Call no man happy till he dies There's no milk at the bottom of the pail

God tempers all the winds for the new shorn lambs The devil knows the bible like the back of his hand All the good in the world You can put inside a thimble And still have room for you and me

If there's one thing you can say about Mankind There's nothing kind about man You can drive out nature with a pitch fork But it always comes roaring back again

For want of a bird The sky was lost For want of a nail A shoe was lost For want of a life A knife was lost For want of a toy A child was lost

And misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row, everybody row Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row

(Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan)