Henry's Songbook

Chorus:
It's not what you're born with
It's what you choose to bear
It's not how big your share is
It's how much you can share
It's not the fights you dreamed of
It's those you really fought
It's not what you're given
It's what you do with what you've got

You must know someone like him - tall and strong and lean
Body like a greyhound and a mind so dark and keen
His heart just like a laurel grew twisted round itself
Till almost everything he did brought pain to someone else

What's the use of two good legs if you only run away
What's the use of the finest voice if you've nothing good to say
What good is strength and muscle if you only push and shove
And what's the use of two good ears if you can't hear those you love

Between those who use their neighbours and those who use a cane
Between those in constant power and those in constant pain
Between those who run to evil and those who cannot run
Tell me which ones are the cripples and which ones touch the sun

(as sung by Iain MacKintosh)

[1988:] Two comments: a) I have been deeply impressed with the advertising by the Spastics Society stating "Our biggest handicap is other people's attitudes".
b) Perhaps the only thing the Thatcher regime will be remembered for is having made greed and aggression respectable again. I think this song is relevant to both points. (Notes Dick Gaughan, 'Call It Freedom')

[2000:] Iain's version of Si Kahn's fine song of personal responsibility is always a high spot. It's a fierce moral statement and a rare one. It takes the responsibility of channelling anger into creed, and like all good songwriting, it transcends every kind of border, geographical and mental. Everyone knows someone like the subject of this song, someone who wastes the well of talent they're born with. (Notes Iain MacKintosh & Brian McNeill, 'Live and Kicking')