The What I Can Do Blues

©2002 Garrett Clevenger

E I am a human who is living in 2019,

in the land of the greed, the red, white and blue.

I am white, I have wealth, I have good mental health.

I’ve got a job, I’m a slob, but I still like myself.

A But there’s just one thing that keeps me awake,

writing songs, lying long, knowing what is at stake.

E So this is the song that will tell you the story

of a man with a plan in a stew that is gory.

B It’s hard to be human in society’s brew

A when you’ve been given a drink of the

E G B what I can do blues.

E I can pretend I’m in the Whitehouse, Commander in Chief.

The one who holds the power. So you gotta beef?

I can send out all our armies. I can start a new war.

If someone tries to stop me, I can nuke them some more.

A I could push so many buttons that my finger’d be red.

I would hope my souls forgiven when I’m also dead.

E But instead I would remember that you are my kin.

Blood is just too Holy. War is a sin.

B So if I could be your leader, I would never hurt you

A ‘cause I would rather share with you the

E G B what I can do blues.

E I can look out my window watching all that goes by.

I can run out of my door and on the grass I could lie.

I can play with the bugs. I can even lick slugs.

With a holler I can call all the neighborhood thugs.

A We could form a new gang, but we wouldn’t be mean.

We’d be helpful and attentive. We would be nice scene.

E We could recruit a hundred thousand, and possibly more.

We could start a revolution. No one would ignore.

B But I’m still looking out my window, though my dream is still true,

A ‘cause I still got the

E G B what I can do blues.

E The world is my oyster and I’m a sand grain.

I can irritate with pleasure the masters of pain.

I can widdle away the greedy man’s place.

I can agitate again if they won’t give me space.

A I could dance to the music I hear in my head.

I could sing a silly song to the bugs in my bed.

E And when they try to bite me and suck out my soul

I could ask them for this dance. Now they’ve got a new role.

B I can be a man with a mission: make a pearl for you.

A Then you will also have the

E G B what I can do blues.

E I can leap like a frog. I can lie like a log.

I can sleep with salamanders who make Love in a bog.

I can dig a hole like a mole and make it my home.

Like a worm I can learn to visit underground bones.

A I could roam like a buffalo or weasel around.

Flap my wings like a bird or swim like a flounder.

E Dig my roots while my branches grow strong like a tree.

I could leave it all behind ‘cause I’ve gotta be free.

B I say it’s hard to be a human in society’s brew

A when you’ve had a cool drink of the

G A B The what I can do blues.

E The what I can do blues.