Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world The higher that the monkey can climb the more he shows his tail Call no man happy 'til he dies There's no milk at the bottom of the pail God builds a church The devil builds a chapel Like the thistles that are growing 'round the trunk of a tree All the good in the world You can put inside a thimble And you still have room for you and me If there's one thing you can say About Mankind There's nothing kind about man You can drive out nature with a pitch fork But it always comes roaring back again Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world For want of a bird The sky was lost For want of a nail A shoe was lost For want of a life A knife was lost For want of a toy A child was lost Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row! Everybody row! Misery's the river of the world Misery's the river of the world Everybody row! Everybody row! Everybody row!