Joan Osborne Just A Bill Lyrics

Just A Bill Lyrics

GIRL:  Whew!  You sure gotta climb a lot of steps to get to this Capitol
Building here in Washington!  But I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper
is? 

I'm just a bill 
Yes, I'm only a bill 
And I'm
sitting here on Capitol Hill 
Well, it's a long, long journey 
To
the capitol city 
It's a long, long wait 
While I'm sitting in
committee 
But I know I'll be a law someday 
At least I hope and
pray that I will 
But today I am still just a bill 

GIRL:  Gee,
Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage! 

BILL:  Well I
got this far.  When I started, I wasn't even a bill.  I was just an idea.  Some
folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called their local
congressman and he said, "You're right, there oughta be a law."  Then
he sat down and wrote me out and introduced me t Congress, and I became a bill. 
And I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law. 

I'm just a
bill 
Yes I'm only a bill 
And I got as far as Capitol
Hill 
Well, now I'm stuck in committee 
And I'll sit here and
wait 
While a few key congressmen discuss and debate 
Whether they
should let me be a law 
How I hope and pray that they will 
But
today I am still just a bill 

GIRL:  Listen to those congressmen
arguing!  Is all that discussion and debate about you? 

BILL:  Yeah,
I'm one of the lucky ones.  Most bills never even get this far.  I hope they
decide to report on my favorably, otherwise I may die. 

GIRL: 
Die! 

BILL:  Yeah, die in committee.  Ooh!  But it looks like I'm
gonna live!  Now I got the House of Representatives and they vote on
me. 

GIRL:  If they vote yes, what happens? 

BILL:  Then I
got the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again. 

GIRL:  Oh
no! 

BILL:  Oh yes! 

I'm just a bill 
Yes, I'm only a
bill 
And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill 
Well, then I'm off to
the White House 
Where I'll wait in a line 
With a lot of other
bills 
For the President to sign 
And he signs me then I'll be a
law 
How I hope and pray that he will 
But today I am still just a
bill 

GIRL:  You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a
law, the President can still say no? 

BILL:  Yes, that's called a
veto.  If the President vetoes me, I have to go back to Congress, and they vote
on me again, and by that time you're so old... 

GIRL:  By that time,
it's very unlikely that you become a law.  It's not easy to become a law, is
it? 

BILL:  No! 

But how I hope and pray that I
will 
But today I am still just a bill 

CONGRESSMAN:  He signed
you, Bill!  Now you're a law! 

BILL:  Right on!