Lyrics

My Autohagiography

I always tried to lend a hand,
unless my hands were tied.
And I always tried to tell the truth,
except for when I lied.
I didn’t win the Nobel Prize
or find the cure for cancer.
I understood the question,
but I didn’t know the answer.

I was not a gilded lily
nor a diamond in the rough.
I didn’t seek perfection,
just to be good enough.
I knew my limitations.
I didn’t need to be a hero.
I just tried to find a value
between infinity and zero.

I wasn’t a saint. I wasn’t a sinner.
I wasn’t a loser. I wasn’t a winner.
I wasn’t a prophet or the messiah.
I wasn’t a villain or a pariah.

When all is said and done
there will be more to do and say.
I had my moment in the sun.
Now I’m old and in the way.
And I hope that they’ll be thinking,
as they walk behind my hearse,
I wasn’t all I could have been,
but I could have been much worse.