What a Blessing

Lyrics

[BIRDSONG] I know it's the devil who tempts me to crime And to sin and corruption, and worse But I find on resisting him time after time That I can't quite believe he's a curse For in face, I believe the reverse What a blessing to know there's a devil And that I'm but a pawn in his game That my impulse to sin Doesn't come from within And so I'm not exactly to blame What a blessing to know there's a devil Ever leading me into some vice And though easily led I can hold up my head Knowing I'm fundamentally nice What relief, oh, what blessed relief That a thief is by nature no thief And a liar is merely the innocent buyer Of lies from the liar-in-chief So of course the remorse may be brief What a blessing to know there's a devil And that I'm but a pawn in his game For I never do wrong Until he comes along And so I'm not exactly the one Who's to blame It's a fact, it's a comforting fact That the soul remains whole and intact Facing fraud and deceit, a forbidden sweetmeat Or some game in which cards have been stacked With this thought, for when caught in the act What a blessing to know there's a devil And that we're not exactly to blame For all guile and all greed And each rotten misdeed Which might blacken sweet mankind's good name What a blessing to know there's a devil Or we'd all simply die of shame