All you great men of power, you who boast of your feats
Politicians and entrepreneurs
Can you safeguard your breath in the night while you sleep
Keep your heart beating steady and sure
As you lie in your bed, does the thought haunt your head
That you?re really, rather small
If there?s one thing I know in this life: we are beggars all.
All you champions of science and rulers of men,
Can you summon the sun from its sleep
Does the earth seek your counsel on how fast to spin
Can you shut up the gates of the deep
Don?t you know that all things hang, as if by a string,
O?er the darkness, poised to fall?
If there?s one thing I know in this life: we are beggars all.
All you big shots that swagger and stride with conceit,
Did you devise how your frame would be formed
If you?d be raised in a palace, or live out in the streets,
Did you choose the place or the hour you?d be born
Tell me what can you claim? Not a thing, not your name
Tell me if you can recall just one thing,
That?s not a gift in this life
Can you hear what?s been said
Can you see now that everything?s grace after all
If there?s one thing I know in this life: we are beggars all.