A Fool There Was

A fool there was and he had no job
Even as you and I
And he didn’t want to steal or rob,
Even as you and I
And so each day he thinner grew,
He tightened his belt a notch or two,
Til it nearly cut him right in two,
Even as you and I

He voted for what he thought was change,
Even as you and I
When nothing did he thought it strange,
Even as you and I
But though the promises lost their shine
He couldn’t help thinking it oh so kind
They’d saved him a place in the old soup line
Even as you and I

He watched depression growing worse
Even as you and I
As bankers looted the public purse
Even as you and I
They told him this was a country grand
With plenty of everything in the land
So he starved to death with a flag in his hand
Even as you and I