Fifty

What if we live to be fifty

And the optimists win by a mile

Supposing we stop the starvation and slaughter

And the century ends with a smile

Maybe recycling paper

Will bring back the forests again

And maybe the five year old psychos with knives

Will grow up to be happy and sane

So give up your cigarettes

Work out and study

And carry a packet of three

We'll live to be rich and a hundred and seven

Unless you know better than me

What if we live to be fifty

And help all the weak and oppressed

We'll cancel their debts & no-one will expect us

To work any harder for less

We'll spend our way out of recession

The West will invest in the East

So hordes of the poor never swarm at our door

Demanding a share of the feast

So give up your cigarettes

Work out and study

And carry a packet of three

We'll live to be rich and a hundred and seven

Unless you know better than me

Science will beat every fatal disease

And plutonium's perfectly safe

They'll find a solution to all the pollution

It's only a matter of faith

What if we live to be fifty

And the bomb doesn't drop after all

And we never lie destitute, freezing and sick

As the mortar shells batter our walls

We'll cheer as our glorious leaders

Develop new weapons for peace

They'll base a new military laser in space

And the ozone will heal in a week

So give up your cigarettes

Work out and study

And carry a packet of three

We'll live to be rich and a hundred and seven

Unless you know better than me