So, what instead, therefore, if we see
That you can't outwit yourself
You can't be unselfconscious on purpose
You can't be designedly spontaneous
And you cannot be genuinely loving by intending to love, by intending to love
[Chorus]
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
If you pretend to love a person, you deceive them and build up reasons for resentment
You say, "Well, I ought to be honest."
That's the beginning of, oh, so many lies you can't imagine
So many lies you can't imagine
[Chorus]
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
It's like when I hear about love, big love thing on the way, everybody's gotta love everybody
We sing songs about love
Do you know what I do?
I buy a gun and bar my door, because I know there's a storm of hypocrisy brewing
I buy a gun and bar my door, because I know there's a storm of hypocrisy brewing
[Chorus]
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
That you can't outwit yourself
You can't be unselfconscious on purpose
You can't be designedly spontaneous
And you cannot be genuinely loving by intending to love, by intending to love
[Chorus]
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
If you pretend to love a person, you deceive them and build up reasons for resentment
You say, "Well, I ought to be honest."
That's the beginning of, oh, so many lies you can't imagine
So many lies you can't imagine
[Chorus]
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
It's like when I hear about love, big love thing on the way, everybody's gotta love everybody
We sing songs about love
Do you know what I do?
I buy a gun and bar my door, because I know there's a storm of hypocrisy brewing
I buy a gun and bar my door, because I know there's a storm of hypocrisy brewing
[Chorus]
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
Either you love someone, or you don't
[Chorus]
You, who will do the improving, are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
You, who will do the improving are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
We can change society
We can get enormous enthusiasm going out of the idea that there is a revolution afoot, and that this revolution is going to set everything to right
Do you know a revolution that ever set anything to right?
Whether the revolution came from the left wing or from the right wing?
The best forms of government that have ever existed in the world are those which muddled through
Where they didn't have any very clear set-up of control, but they muddle along
A kind of what are called controlled anarchy seems to work out better than anything else
When we have a great system and great power to put it into effect, there is always more violence, more bloodshed, more trouble
Always more violence, more bloodshed, more trouble
Always more violence, more bloodshed, more trouble
It makes no difference whether it be Chairman Mao or Adolf Hitler
[Chorus]
You, who will do the improving, are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
You, who will do the improving, are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
You, who will do the improving, are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
You, who will do the improving are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
We can change society
We can get enormous enthusiasm going out of the idea that there is a revolution afoot, and that this revolution is going to set everything to right
Do you know a revolution that ever set anything to right?
Whether the revolution came from the left wing or from the right wing?
The best forms of government that have ever existed in the world are those which muddled through
Where they didn't have any very clear set-up of control, but they muddle along
A kind of what are called controlled anarchy seems to work out better than anything else
When we have a great system and great power to put it into effect, there is always more violence, more bloodshed, more trouble
Always more violence, more bloodshed, more trouble
Always more violence, more bloodshed, more trouble
It makes no difference whether it be Chairman Mao or Adolf Hitler
[Chorus]
You, who will do the improving, are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
You, who will do the improving, are the one who needs to be improved
And this also goes for society
Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, said
"The highest virtue is not virtue, and therefore, really is virtue."
But inferior virtue cannot let go of being virtue
Therefore, is not virtue
Translated in more of a paraphrastic way
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
In other words, when you breathe
You don't congratulate yourself on being virtuous, but breathing is a great virtue
It's living
It's living
When you come out with beautiful eyes, blue or brown or green, as the case may be
You don't congratulate yourself for having grown one of the most fabulous jewels on Earth
They're just eyes
And you don't account it to virtue, to see, to entertain the miracles of color and form
You say, “Well, that’s just…”
But that's real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Virtue in the sense, the old sense of the word, is strength
As when we talk about the healing virtue of a plant
That's real virtue
But the other virtues are stuck on
They're ersatz
They're imitation virtues, and they usually create trouble
Because more diabolical things are done in the name of righteousness
And be assured that everybody of whatever nationality or political frame of mind, or religion, always goes to war with a sense of complete rightness
The other side is the devil. Our opponents, whether in China or Russia or Vietnam, have the same feeling of righteousness about what they're doing as we have on our side
And a plague on both houses
Because as Confucius said, "The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue."
Of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
Which is the form of our own proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intention
"The highest virtue is not virtue, and therefore, really is virtue."
But inferior virtue cannot let go of being virtue
Therefore, is not virtue
Translated in more of a paraphrastic way
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
In other words, when you breathe
You don't congratulate yourself on being virtuous, but breathing is a great virtue
It's living
It's living
When you come out with beautiful eyes, blue or brown or green, as the case may be
You don't congratulate yourself for having grown one of the most fabulous jewels on Earth
They're just eyes
And you don't account it to virtue, to see, to entertain the miracles of color and form
You say, “Well, that’s just…”
But that's real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Virtue in the sense, the old sense of the word, is strength
As when we talk about the healing virtue of a plant
That's real virtue
But the other virtues are stuck on
They're ersatz
They're imitation virtues, and they usually create trouble
Because more diabolical things are done in the name of righteousness
And be assured that everybody of whatever nationality or political frame of mind, or religion, always goes to war with a sense of complete rightness
The other side is the devil. Our opponents, whether in China or Russia or Vietnam, have the same feeling of righteousness about what they're doing as we have on our side
And a plague on both houses
Because as Confucius said, "The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue."
Of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
Which is the form of our own proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intention
And what seems a good thing today
Turns out tomorrow to have been a disaster
What seemed in the moral spiritual sphere too, like great virtues in times past
Are easily seen today as hideous evils
Let's take, for example, the Inquisition
In its own day, among Catholics, the Holy Inquisition was regarded as we today regard the practice of psychiatry
You, you see, you feel that in curing the person of cancer, almost anything is justified
The most complex operation, the most weird surgery, people suspended for days and days on end on the end of tubes with x-ray penetration
Burning, people undergoing shock treatment, people locked in the colorless, monotonous corridors of mental institutions
In all good faith, they knew that witchcraft and heresy were terrible things
Awful plagues imperiling people's souls forever and ever
So any means were justified to cure people of heresy
We don’t change
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We can look back at those people and see how evil that was
But we can't see it in ourselves
So therefore, beware of virtue
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
So therefore, beware of virtue
So therefore, beware
Beware of virtue
Turns out tomorrow to have been a disaster
What seemed in the moral spiritual sphere too, like great virtues in times past
Are easily seen today as hideous evils
Let's take, for example, the Inquisition
In its own day, among Catholics, the Holy Inquisition was regarded as we today regard the practice of psychiatry
You, you see, you feel that in curing the person of cancer, almost anything is justified
The most complex operation, the most weird surgery, people suspended for days and days on end on the end of tubes with x-ray penetration
Burning, people undergoing shock treatment, people locked in the colorless, monotonous corridors of mental institutions
In all good faith, they knew that witchcraft and heresy were terrible things
Awful plagues imperiling people's souls forever and ever
So any means were justified to cure people of heresy
We don’t change
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We can look back at those people and see how evil that was
But we can't see it in ourselves
So therefore, beware of virtue
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
So therefore, beware of virtue
So therefore, beware
Beware of virtue
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The same problem arises in medicine, because the body is a very complexly interrelated organism
And if you look at the body in a superficial way, you may see there's something wrong with it
Here's chicken pox, and the spots that itch
You might say, "Well, spots are there, cut 'em off."
So you kill the bug
Well, then you find you've got real problems, because you have to introduce some bugs to kill the bug
It's like bringing rabbits into Australia
And that starts going all over the place and getting out of hand
Then you think, "Now, wait a minute. It wasn't the bugs in the blood, there are bugs all over the place. What was wrong with this person that his blood system suddenly became vulnerable to those particular bugs?"
His resistance wasn’t up
Therefore, what you should have given was not an antibiotic, but vitamins
Okay, so we're gonna build up his resistance, but resistance for what?
You may build up resistance to this and this and this class of bugs, but then there's another one that loves that situation, it comes right in
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
See, we always look at the human being medically, in bits and pieces
Because we have heart specialists, lung specialists, bone specialists, nerve specialists, and so on
And so on
They each see the human being from their point of view
There are a few generalists, but they realize the human body's so complicated that no one mind can understand it
And furthermore, supposing we do succeed in healing all these people of their diseases
What do we then do about the population problem?
I mean, we've stopped cholera, the black bubonic plague, we're getting the better of tuberculosis, we may fix cancer and heart disease
Then what will people die of?
Well, they'll just go on living, with the enormous quantities of us
Then we have to fix this birth thing
Pills for everyone
Then we find what are the effects, the side effects, of those pills?
What are the psychological effects upon men and women of not breeding children in the usual way?
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
[Outro]
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The same problem arises in medicine, because the body is a very complexly interrelated organism
And if you look at the body in a superficial way, you may see there's something wrong with it
Here's chicken pox, and the spots that itch
You might say, "Well, spots are there, cut 'em off."
So you kill the bug
Well, then you find you've got real problems, because you have to introduce some bugs to kill the bug
It's like bringing rabbits into Australia
And that starts going all over the place and getting out of hand
Then you think, "Now, wait a minute. It wasn't the bugs in the blood, there are bugs all over the place. What was wrong with this person that his blood system suddenly became vulnerable to those particular bugs?"
His resistance wasn’t up
Therefore, what you should have given was not an antibiotic, but vitamins
Okay, so we're gonna build up his resistance, but resistance for what?
You may build up resistance to this and this and this class of bugs, but then there's another one that loves that situation, it comes right in
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
See, we always look at the human being medically, in bits and pieces
Because we have heart specialists, lung specialists, bone specialists, nerve specialists, and so on
And so on
They each see the human being from their point of view
There are a few generalists, but they realize the human body's so complicated that no one mind can understand it
And furthermore, supposing we do succeed in healing all these people of their diseases
What do we then do about the population problem?
I mean, we've stopped cholera, the black bubonic plague, we're getting the better of tuberculosis, we may fix cancer and heart disease
Then what will people die of?
Well, they'll just go on living, with the enormous quantities of us
Then we have to fix this birth thing
Pills for everyone
Then we find what are the effects, the side effects, of those pills?
What are the psychological effects upon men and women of not breeding children in the usual way?
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
[Outro]
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you