Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger - The Ballad of Accounting lyrics

In the morning we built this city
In the afternoon walked through it's streets
Evening saw us leaving

We wandered through our days as
If they would never end
All of us imagined we had
Endless time to spend
We hardly saw the crossroads
And small attention gave
To landmarks on the journey
From the cradle to the grave
Cradle to the grave, cradle to the grave

Did you learn to dream in the morning?
Abandon dreams in the afternoon
Wait without hope in the evening

Did you stand there in the traces
And let them feed you lies?
Did you trail along behind them
Wearing blinkers on your eyes?
Did you kiss the foot that kicked you?
Did you thank them for their scorn?
Did you ask for their forgiveness
For the act of being born
Act of being born, act of being born?

Did you alter the face of this city?
Did you make any change in
The world you found?
Or did you observe all the warnings?

Did you read the trespass notice
Did you keep off the grass?
Did you shuffle off the pavement just
To let your betters pass?
Did you learn to keep your mouth shut?
To be seen and never heard?
Did you learn to be obedient
And jump to at a word
Jump to at a word, jump to at a word?

Did you ever demand any answers?
The who, and the what, and the reason why?
Did you ever question the setup?

Did you stand aside and let them
Choose while you took second best?
Did you let them skim cream off and
Then give to you the rest?
Did you settle for the shoddy?
Did you think it right
To let them rob right and left
And never make a fight
Never make a fight, never make a fight?

What did you learn in the morning?
How much did you know in the afternoon?
Were you content in the evening?

Did they teach you how to question
When you were at the school?
Did the factory help you grow
Were you the maker or the tool?
Did the place where you were living
Enrich your life and then
Did you reach some understanding
Of all your fellow men
All your fellow men, all your fellow men?