Original Title: "Wovon Lebt der Mensch/Zweites Dreigroschenfinale", from "Die Dreigroschenoper"; a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. (Adaptation of the 1728 "Beggar's Opera" by John Gay)

Lyrics

We listen to the sentimental preachers
who try to teach the world a better way
But they forget that men are hungry creatures
First give us breakfast, then we'll start the day

They all imagine peace and plenty everywhere
contentment, from the cradle to the grave
It's a utopia and one we'd love to share
First you must feed us, then we'll all behave
These moral absolutes are hard to follow
just give us something tangible to swallow

What keeps a man alive?

What keeps a man alive?
It's his compulsion to steal and cheat
and kick his fellow man in the face
We have to eat the shit without revulsion
And turn our backs upon the human race

You have to kill your neighbour to survive
It's selfishness that keeps a man alive

You gentlemen who think you have a mission
To purge us of the seven deadly sins
Should first sort out the basic food position
Then start your preaching, that's where it begins

You lot who preach restraint and watch your waist as well
Should learn, for once, the way the world is run
However much you twist or whatever lies that you tell
Food is the first thing, morals follow on
So first make sure that those who are now starving
Get proper helpings when we all start carving

But what keeps a man alive?

What keeps a man alive?
It's his compulsion to steal and cheat
and kick his fellow man in the face
We have to eat the shit without revulsion
And turn our backs upon the human race

You have to kill your neighbour to survive
It's selfishness that keeps a man alive

Artwork: The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch (1503–1515)

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