"Ballad of the Unborn (Cursory Shaker)" Capo 2 EOnce (022100@1)there was a doctor who offered hysterectomies ATo (x02220@1)every single woman who he happened to meet EWhen (022100@1)he met my mother it was before she had me AHe (x02220@1)asked if she would undergo a procedure for free EThat (022100@1)would free her from her biological necessities AHe (x02220@1)said "There's too many people, I think you will agree EAnd (022100@1)one fewer womb means at least one less mouth to feed AAnd (x02220@1)it's not like your children were likely to be ESpecial (022100@1)or interesting or going to change things. AIt's (x02220@1)an afternoon in pain for a lifetime of ease" Chorus: E (022100@1) A (x02220@1) E (022100@1) AAnd (x02220@1)that's how my mom found out that life is not about E (022100@1) B7 (x21202@1) EHaving (022100@1)kids and she could do whatever she wanted Free from the strictures of her reproductive urge My mother went to school and she began to learn Everything she could taking each subject in its term Her acumen was only matched by her intellectual thirst But like anyone who thinks about it she began to question the worth Of life as she is lived most everywhere on Earth It occurred to her she could concoct an immolating cure But "cure" in the loosest usage of that word "Immolating" in the sense that it's the important verb It's an afternoon in flames versus a lifetime of worse And that's how my mom found out that life is not about Living but enduring 'til its conclusion It's a terrifying moment of existential clarity Especially when it's mixed with homemade chemistry But my mother saw it as her own responsibility To save everyone as that doctor had once saved me From experiencing the universe's grotesque geometry The dependence of that experience on the last catastrophe Are an ability to see ourselves as points in history Unimportant as a aggregate meaning less individually Always caught in the maw of our own transiency This was the seed that became a stone and became cursory. And that's how my mom found out that life is not about Living but enduring 'til its conclusion And that's why you should admire anytime someone dies Or is aborted or in some way spared these lessons