Four Pails Lyrics

Four Pails lyrics

Four pails of water and a bagfull of salts.

That is all we are, that is
all a man comprises,
chemicals alone, with no spirit, soul or ghost
-
nothing so bizarre.
No amount of faith disguises 
what is true is
what we fear the most

Nothing can survive
save the things men leave
behind them.
Any other case would be really too absurd -
if thoughts
remained alive
surely modern science would find them?
No, the soul is
nothing but a word.

All the wonders Man achieves
emerge from cerebral
tissue.
Chemical reactions' ebb and surge
form that Thing that is
you....
It's a sad philosophy,
but better sad than wrong.
Face the
truth instead:
when you're dead you're dead,
when you're gone you're
gone...
now she's gone.

Four pails of water and a bagfull of
salts.

That is all she was, all my lover represented -
that sounds
just as mad as saying she will never die.
Fools may clutch at straws
but
truth must not be circumvented:
as the tree falls, so must that tree
lie!

Now that sounds so odd...
once I would have preached it
brightly.
Now questions appear I rationally can't ignore...
Nothingness
or God,
Which of them seems more unlikely?

Once I would have answered
clearly,
now I only think I'm nearly sure.

(Chris Judge Smith)