Everyone's waiting for their ship to come in
And they wring their hands and they drum their fingers
On the walls that they built to be safe from the wind
But they can't see out and no one can see in
And the world goes marching to a million drums
Without a leader for the band
And all the clever plans of mice and of men
Blow away like a child's balloon
"Life's but a song," the poet once said
But we never sing it
If we never even learn the tune
Everyone's scuffling to be King of the Hill
And they shoot their guns and they blow their trumpets
But the grand coronation is a short lived thrill
'Cuz the king's got no clothes so he dies of a chill
And the world goes marching to a million drums
Without a leader for the band
And all the clever plans of mice and of men
Tangle up like a ball of string
Try as we might to simply pretend
They were so important
They never really changed a thing
Everyone's clawing for their piece of the pie
And they stab at the crust with their forks and fingers
And their tongues roll back from the bitter surprise
And they're spitting out feathers while the blackbirds fly
And the world goes marching to a million drums
Without a leader for the band
And all the clever plans of mice and of men
Blow away like a child's balloon
"Life's but a song," the poet once said
But we never sing it
And all the clever plans of mice and of men
Tangle up like a ball of string
Try as we might to simply pretend
They were so important
They were so important, yeah
They were so important
They never really changed a thing