You can't
You know, you can’t eat 10 roasts of beef in one day
Can't live in six houses at once, can't drive three Rolls Royces at the same time
What are you to do?
[Chorus]
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Well, you just go make more money, put your money back
Invest in something else, it'll make more
You don't give a damn how it's made, so long as they make it
You don't care if they foul the rivers, put oil fumes throughout the air everywhere, kill off all the fish
So what?
So long as you see these figures happening, you're not aware of anything else
So you see, you went out to do a self-improvement thing
Making money, you see, is a measure of improvement, a measure of your economic worthwhileness
Or at least, that's what it's supposed to be, it isn't anything of the kind
But you went out, in other words, for the status, instead of for the actuality
[Chorus]
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
You do art, you're a musician
Why do you play music?
The only reason for playing music is to enjoy
If you play music to impress an audience
Read about yourself in the newspaper, you're not interested in music
So in the same way, why do I come and talk to you?
'Cause I enjoy it
I like the sound of my own voice
I'm interested in what I'm talking about, and I get paid for it
Now, that's smart in this life
You get paid for what you enjoy
So here's the situation, you see
The whole idea of self-improvement is a will-o'-the-wisp and a hoax
That's not what it's about
Let's begin where we are
What happens if you know, if you know beyond any shadow of doubt that there is nothing you can do to be better?
Well, it's kind of a relief, isn't it?
You say, "Well, now what will I do?"
Because we are so used to making things better
Leave the world a better place than when you found it sorta thing
I want to be of service to other people, and all these dreadfully hazy ideas
But supposing instead of that, seeing that there isn't really anything we can do to improve ourselves or to improve the world, if we realize that that is so, it gives us a breather, in the course of which we may simply
[Chorus]
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Therefore, it sounds terribly simple, it sounds so simple that it almost looks as if it isn't worth doing
But have you ever just watched?
Watch what's happening and watch what you are doing by way of reaction to it
Just watch it happen, and don't be in a hurry
To think you know what it is
In other words, people look, so that's the external world
Oh? How do you know?
The whole thing, from a neurological point of view, there's a happening in your head
That you think there is something outside the skull is a notion in your nervous system
That may or may not be, but it's a notion in your nervous system
You think this is the material world
Well, that's somebody's philosophical idea
You think it's spiritual
That too is somebody's philosophical idea
This real world is not spiritual
It is not material
The real world is simply…
So could we look at things in that way, without fixing labels and names and gradations and judgments on everything?
But watch what happens
Watch what we do
But watch what happens
Watch what we do
You know, you can’t eat 10 roasts of beef in one day
Can't live in six houses at once, can't drive three Rolls Royces at the same time
What are you to do?
[Chorus]
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Well, you just go make more money, put your money back
Invest in something else, it'll make more
You don't give a damn how it's made, so long as they make it
You don't care if they foul the rivers, put oil fumes throughout the air everywhere, kill off all the fish
So what?
So long as you see these figures happening, you're not aware of anything else
So you see, you went out to do a self-improvement thing
Making money, you see, is a measure of improvement, a measure of your economic worthwhileness
Or at least, that's what it's supposed to be, it isn't anything of the kind
But you went out, in other words, for the status, instead of for the actuality
[Chorus]
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
You do art, you're a musician
Why do you play music?
The only reason for playing music is to enjoy
If you play music to impress an audience
Read about yourself in the newspaper, you're not interested in music
So in the same way, why do I come and talk to you?
'Cause I enjoy it
I like the sound of my own voice
I'm interested in what I'm talking about, and I get paid for it
Now, that's smart in this life
You get paid for what you enjoy
So here's the situation, you see
The whole idea of self-improvement is a will-o'-the-wisp and a hoax
That's not what it's about
Let's begin where we are
What happens if you know, if you know beyond any shadow of doubt that there is nothing you can do to be better?
Well, it's kind of a relief, isn't it?
You say, "Well, now what will I do?"
Because we are so used to making things better
Leave the world a better place than when you found it sorta thing
I want to be of service to other people, and all these dreadfully hazy ideas
But supposing instead of that, seeing that there isn't really anything we can do to improve ourselves or to improve the world, if we realize that that is so, it gives us a breather, in the course of which we may simply
[Chorus]
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Watch what is going on
Watch what happens
Nobody ever does this, you know
Nobody ever does this, you know
Therefore, it sounds terribly simple, it sounds so simple that it almost looks as if it isn't worth doing
But have you ever just watched?
Watch what's happening and watch what you are doing by way of reaction to it
Just watch it happen, and don't be in a hurry
To think you know what it is
In other words, people look, so that's the external world
Oh? How do you know?
The whole thing, from a neurological point of view, there's a happening in your head
That you think there is something outside the skull is a notion in your nervous system
That may or may not be, but it's a notion in your nervous system
You think this is the material world
Well, that's somebody's philosophical idea
You think it's spiritual
That too is somebody's philosophical idea
This real world is not spiritual
It is not material
The real world is simply…
So could we look at things in that way, without fixing labels and names and gradations and judgments on everything?
But watch what happens
Watch what we do
But watch what happens
Watch what we do
It's instructive to go to a professional professors' meeting
In my field, which is philosophy, you got to a congress of philosophers
And you'll find, when they all get together in the bar or in the restaurant, in somebody's room
The one thing they don't talk about is philosophy
It is very bad form indeed to show interest in philosophy among your colleagues
The same is exactly true in clergy gatherings. They don't talk about religion
What they both talk about is politics, church politics and academic politics
'Cause it's bad form to be brilliant on a faculty, because it outclasses your colleagues
Therefore, faculty people tend to cultivate
[Chorus]
The studied mediocrity
(Studied mediocrity)
The studied mediocrity
(Studied mediocrity)
And you gotta watch out for that
I mean, if you get mobs of students coming to your lectures
You get pretty black looks from your colleagues
But you see, what it is
It's scholarship about scholarship, and not scholarship
Just as learning because learning is good for you is irrelevant to learning
The whole idea of improving yourself by learning is irrelevant to the learning process
And in the same way, doing business
Is doing business
Doing business, such as manufacturing clothes, is a very good thing to do
I could conceive that it would be extremely enjoyable
Something one could be very proud of to make good clothes
Course you need to sell them, 'cause you need to eat, but to make clothes to make money
Raises another question
Because then your interest is not in making clothes, it’s making money, and then you're gonna cheat on the clothes
And then you get an awful lot of money and you don't know what to do with it
[Chorus]
The studied mediocrity
(The studied mediocrity)
The studied mediocrity
(The studied mediocrity)
In my field, which is philosophy, you got to a congress of philosophers
And you'll find, when they all get together in the bar or in the restaurant, in somebody's room
The one thing they don't talk about is philosophy
It is very bad form indeed to show interest in philosophy among your colleagues
The same is exactly true in clergy gatherings. They don't talk about religion
What they both talk about is politics, church politics and academic politics
'Cause it's bad form to be brilliant on a faculty, because it outclasses your colleagues
Therefore, faculty people tend to cultivate
[Chorus]
The studied mediocrity
(Studied mediocrity)
The studied mediocrity
(Studied mediocrity)
And you gotta watch out for that
I mean, if you get mobs of students coming to your lectures
You get pretty black looks from your colleagues
But you see, what it is
It's scholarship about scholarship, and not scholarship
Just as learning because learning is good for you is irrelevant to learning
The whole idea of improving yourself by learning is irrelevant to the learning process
And in the same way, doing business
Is doing business
Doing business, such as manufacturing clothes, is a very good thing to do
I could conceive that it would be extremely enjoyable
Something one could be very proud of to make good clothes
Course you need to sell them, 'cause you need to eat, but to make clothes to make money
Raises another question
Because then your interest is not in making clothes, it’s making money, and then you're gonna cheat on the clothes
And then you get an awful lot of money and you don't know what to do with it
[Chorus]
The studied mediocrity
(The studied mediocrity)
The studied mediocrity
(The studied mediocrity)
So, let's look at this thing from another point of view, which you will at first think highly depressing
Let's supposing we can't do anything to change ourselves
Suppose we're stuck with it. Now, that is the worst thing an American audience can hear
There's no way of improving yourself, because every kind of culture in this country is dedicated to self-improvement
Just take jogging, that deplorable practice
It's a very nice thing to run
And to go dancing across the hills at a fast speed
But these joggers (imitating shoes hitting pavement)
Shaking their bones, rattling their brains, running on their heels
There's a grimness about it. It's determinately good for you
Why do you go to school?
The whole point of coming to school is that you're interested in something
You don't come to improve yourself
The trouble is that the schools got the wrong idea
They gave people honors for learning
The reward for studying French should be the ability to speak French and enjoy reading French
And having fun with French people
But when you get a degree for it, then the degree becomes the point
In a game of one-upmanship
And of course, one-upmanship is the main business of the educational community today
You learn all the rules of how to be a good professor
How to be a good professor
Let's supposing we can't do anything to change ourselves
Suppose we're stuck with it. Now, that is the worst thing an American audience can hear
There's no way of improving yourself, because every kind of culture in this country is dedicated to self-improvement
Just take jogging, that deplorable practice
It's a very nice thing to run
And to go dancing across the hills at a fast speed
But these joggers (imitating shoes hitting pavement)
Shaking their bones, rattling their brains, running on their heels
There's a grimness about it. It's determinately good for you
Why do you go to school?
The whole point of coming to school is that you're interested in something
You don't come to improve yourself
The trouble is that the schools got the wrong idea
They gave people honors for learning
The reward for studying French should be the ability to speak French and enjoy reading French
And having fun with French people
But when you get a degree for it, then the degree becomes the point
In a game of one-upmanship
And of course, one-upmanship is the main business of the educational community today
You learn all the rules of how to be a good professor
How to be a good professor
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