Shane Koyczan, The Short Story Long - Help Wanted lyrics

Everyday, Grandma would come into my room

And I'd hear her say, "Rise and shine

The world is a window that holds a sign

There's help wanted somewhere"

So I rose and I shone

I put on my shoes and I was gone
See Grandma bought me my first phone

She said
"Don't bother calling the people who care

Call the people don't

Don't bother calling the people who
Have taken up a fight



Call the people who won't"

And I learn at a very young age

Where my Grandma's rage came from

The entire congregation would nod

Never ask Grandma about God

I'd argue with her everyday

All she'd say is, "Go down to the store

Buy some light bulbs

And when you run out, buy some more
Because the light at the end of
Your tunnel needs to be maintained

You can't let it be stained by their
Beliefs are better than your beliefs

And you can't agree to disagree
Because they're fucking wrong!"

It's not the strong who have gotten lazy

It's just that your vision is a little hazy

You're not sure what you want

But what you've got is all you need

Falsed greed

For every hypocritical church goer

Who won't walk past the beggars

'Cause they can't spare a dime

Grandma said, "Fuck them

I don't talk to God 'cause
I ain't got the time"
And it struck me as strange

Every time I walked past someone

Who stopped to ask me

"Hey can you spare some change?"

Because, yes I can, but you see

I don't carry change around in my back pocket

I don't wear it around my neck
On a chain in some locket

I keep change in the tip of my pen

And it seeps out every now and then

In spurts of angry ink that make me think

Maybe the writing on the wall
Could use a little revision

Grandma told me
"Stop trying to calculate the
Difference between people

People don't need division

Gotta stick it together

Gotta love each other"

Father, brother, sister, mother
Uncles, cousins, aunts

Forget about the chance, the
Cheers, the jokes, the jeers

After 2000 years
You'd think we'd know by now

Grandma said, "We will only find equality in
The number of tears"

And she was right

Because I don't know what
Injustices you have suffer

Based size, sex, race, religion

Or the political pigeon shit
On the shoulders of

Us versus them

Like in Bethlehem

When a man said, "Hey I could be wrong

But can't we all just get along?"

No! So we nailed him to a tree

See, justice isn't justice

It just is

And I can't change it

You can't change it

So we've just got to try and rearrange it

And I could offer you this miracle

A chance to see

A chance to see what I see

To see the way that people see me

Because if seeing is believing

And you see what I see

We wouldn't want to see anymore

But, I've got a little surprise in store

For every man who looks upon me
With judgment in his eye

The women who looks upon me
With wetness between her thighs

I'm the world's greatest overweight lover

And you might just laugh

And you might just scoff

My bones are made from sticks and stones

And names just piss me off

Grandma told me, "Young man

You can't be concerned with what
Ever it is they've got

Because the only reason they
Think they're beautiful

Is the same reason they think you're not

And, young man
You have beauty beyond measure

You are a treasure entrenched in this earth

You can't let strangers determine your worth

Rise and shine!"

So I rose and I shone

I put on my shoes and I was gone

See, Grandma bought me my first phone

She said, "Young man, from time to time

I too need to smile

Would you do me a favour and
Keep me on speed dial?"

Yes, Grandma, I will

And still, to this day, I can call her up

And hear her say, "It's a game!

You play, you win

You play, you lose

You play!"

"Rise and shine!

The world is a window that holds a sign

There is help wanted out there, somewhere

But, young man, if you are playing to win

The first thing you have to do

Is apply within"