LENTILS
(Kath Tait)

Life was cheap, our thoughts were deep
We did not wash for forty weeks
We ate the brown rice and the lentils
We thought we were so existential
We did not weep, we took a leap
To the bottom of the social heap
The view was clearer than from the top
Our wisdom flourished, our wealth did not

The social ladder it was too steep
We watched our friends climb up so high
And we watched them wave bye bye
Disappearing in the sky
We smoked a pipe, we grew a beard
The neighbours thought that we were weird
Yes, we were weird but we were not glum
Our youth was too much fun

We were not dense, we lived in tents
To cut down on bills and rent
Under umbrellas, we ate the lentils
We thought that we were so environmental
We did not mope, we bought the dope
With the money that we saved on soap
We made our choices and there was time
So when things went wrong we could change our mind

The social ladder it was too steep
We watched our friends climb up so high
And we watched them wave bye bye
Disappearing in the sky
We smoked a pipe, we grew a beard
The neighbours thought that we were weird
Yes, we were weird but we were not glum
Our youth was too much fun

Was it uncouth to spend our youth
Throwing parties on the roof
Our new friends were not respectable
Our old friends became aloof
We wrote a poem like Leonard Cohen
About not knowing where we were going
So we stumbled through the years
Chasing a stream of peculiar ideas
While the mice, the ticks and lice
The weevils thrived in the brown rice

The days went round, our lives did go
The price of lentils stayed reasonably low
And we’ve no regrets about the debts
Or the savings we did not collect
We’ll spend our old age eating lentils
With no spare cash for non-essentials
There’ll be no trips on luxury ships
No new false teeth or plastic hips
And as for choices they’ve nothing left
But to become Buddhist nuns, I guess

Another good'un from the wonderful Kath Tait. The above is my transcription from the video. I have no idea of the original stanza structure. Corrections welcomed.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.