Lyrics

The higher that the monkey can climb The more he shows his tail Call no man happy till he dies There's no milk at the bottom of the pail God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel Like the thistles that are growing round the trunk of a tree All the good in the world you can put inside a thimble And still have room for you and me If there's one thing you can say about mankind There's nothing kind about man You can drive out nature with a pitchfork But it always comes roaring back again Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world The higher that the monkey can climb The more he shows his tail Call no man happy till he dies There's no milk at the bottom of the pail God tempers all the ruins for the new shorn lambs The devil knows the Bible like the back of his hand All the good in the world you can put inside a thimble And still have room for you and me If there's one thing you can say about mankind There's nothing kind about man You can drive out nature with a pitchfork But it always comes roaring back again For want of a bird, the sky was lost For want of a nail, a shoe was lost For want of a life, a knife was lost For want of a toy, a child was lost And misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row, everybody row Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row, everybody row Everybody row