Malvina Reynolds
Lyric guide

The Wise Men

Read The Wise Men lyrics by Malvina Reynolds on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.

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Page type: lyric reference Artist: Malvina Reynolds Canonical path: /malvina-reynolds/the-wise-men Related lyric paths: 6
Lyrics

The Wise Men

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The wise men, the wise men, they do not know a thing;

They've gotten into leadership by tilting at the ring,

By wheeling, by dealing, by talking through their hat,

And when it comes to world affairs they're blind as a bat.

Chorus:

The wise men, the wise men

They'll finish us for sure,

The fools we can endure,

But Heaven knows the cure

For the wisdom of the wise, wise, men.

The wise men, the wise men, they give me a pain;

They don't know enough to come in out of the rain;

The rain is filled with poison, it falls on good and ill;

If fall-out doesn't get you the firestorms will.

(Chorus)

Their words flow like a river, they dazzle in your eyes,

A prestidigitation of half truths and lies,

Meanwhile the war machine goes rolling on and on:

The tapes will still be talking when everybody's gone.

(Chorus)

Your fate and my fate, the fate of all the lands

Are being wildly juggled in their butterfinger hands:

The lobby's there to nudge them to let something fall,

Down tumbles U.N., world peace and all.

(Chorus)

The wise men, the wise men, let's lock them in a room

And set them all to talking of megatons and doom,

And let them play at juggling maps and changing every border

And we won't let them out again 'til all the world's in order.

(Chorus)

The wise men, the wise men, they do not know a thing;

They've gotten into leadership by tilting at the ring,

By wheeling, by dealing, by talking through their hat,

And when it comes to world affairs they're blind as a bat.

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Who performs "The Wise Men"?

Malvina Reynolds performs "The Wise Men", and this lyric page sits inside the Malvina Reynolds catalog on LyroVerse.

Are there related songs to explore after "The Wise Men"?

Yes. The related section below points to I've Got a Song and A Short History of Warfare with a short reason for opening each page next.

Where can I find more songs by Malvina Reynolds?

Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Malvina Reynolds's lyric pages.

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