There are so many!

Here's a familiar one, and for good reason:

"Oh, dear me, the world is ill divided -
Them that work the hardest are the least provided."

- Mary Brooksbank, The Jute Mill Song

Songs by Townes Van Zandt and Utah Phillips spring to mind:

"We all got holes to fill,
And them holes are all that's real.
Some fall on you like a storm;
Sometimes you dig your own.
But the choice is yours to make
And time is yours to take -
Some dive into the sea;
Others toil out on the stone.
To live's to fly - low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.
Shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes."

- Townes Van Zandt, "To Live's To Fly"

And even though it's spoken:

"Now a traveling life might seem all right -
A life without worry or care.
You're always up and you're always out
And you're always going somewhere.
But I tell you, my friend,
It's not where you are,
But your reason for being there."

- Utah Phillips, "Phoebe Snow"

Someone mentioned Helen Schneyer - here's a traditional one she used to sing:

"Oh it's hard to hear the hungry children crying
When I have two hands that want to do their share."

- traditional, A Miner's Prayer


And the shortest, and maybe the best, written by a good friend and as yet unrecorded:

"What has war to do with children?"
- Lois Lyman, Sarajevo


There are many, many more. Good thread!

Dan Schatz