Misery Is the River of the World Songtext
von Tom Waits

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 ′til he dies
There's no milk at the bottom of the pail


God tempers all the ruins for the new shorn lands
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 life 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!