The Question Song

Poet Prartho sings one of her songs.

The Question Song

Lyrics

You’ve got questions milling all over your head;
they meet you in the morning and put you to bed.
You’ve no peace at all since you looked up and said:
I wanna know.

You wanna know why the salamander married the frog,
know why the boy ran away with his dog,
know why there’s thunder, lightning, and fog.
You wanna know.

You wanna know why the trees keep growing so high,
know why the elephant never will fly,
know why it seems that you never will die.
You wanna know.

You wanna know why the sun is so bright in your eye,
know when you like a girl, why you get shy
know why you solve all your problems with lies.
You wanna know.

Well, it’s the same fruit that Adam ate that led to his fall,
the same string of knots that got ahold of us all —
the universal itch, the unanswered call:
We wanna know.

We wanna know why everything slips through our hand,
know why time keeps sifting like sand,
know how we ended up in such a strange land.
We wanna know.

We wanna know where the courage is to walk through that door,
know how to live without craving more,
know how to live and laugh and still mind the store.
You wanna know.

So if your rowing arm gets weary and the river gets long,
remember everything’s a burden till you make it a song.
So toss your questions overboard and just drift along,
and then you’ll know.

Then you’ll know why the salamander married the frog,
know why the boy ran away with his dog,
know why there’s thunder, lightning, and fog.
And then you’ll know.

[etc…. any or all of the verses can be repeated in the new form, “And then you’ll know” substituting “You wanna know.” The last phrase is extended: “And then you’l knoooooooow!”

The Question Song has appeared on a CD a friend produced called Salt (Mystic Mandala Productions). Credits: Jashanananda Blackwell – musician/arranger, and my twin grandsons, Quincy and Nautica, who wrote two of the verses when they were about 11 years old (the two best, in my opinion!)

Prartho – prarthosereno.com