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The World Isn't Fair Lyrics

Artist: Randy Newman
Album: Bad Love

When Karl Marx was a boy
he took a hard look around
He saw people were starving all over the place
while others were painting the town
The public spirited boy
became a public spirited man
So he worked very hard and he read everything
until he came up with a plan

There'll be no exploitation
of the worker or his kin
No discrimination 'cause of the color of your
skin
No more private property
It would not be allowed
No one could rise too high
No one could sink too low
or go under completely like some we all know

If Marx were living today
he'd be rolling around in his grave
And if I had him here in my mansion on the hill
I'd tell him a story t'would give his old heart
a chill

It's something that happened to me
I'd say, Karl I recently stumbled
into a new family
with two little children in school
where all little children should be
I went to the orientation
All the young mommies were there
Karl, you never have seen such a glorious sight
as these beautiful women arrayed for the night
just like countesses, empresses, movie stars and
queens
And they'd come there with men much like me
Froggish men, unpleasant to see
Were you to kiss one, Karl
Nary a prince would there be

Oh Karl the world isn't fair
It isn't and never will be
They tried out your plan
It brought misery instead
If you'd seen how they worked it
you'd be glad you were dead
just like I'm glad I'm living in the land of the
free
where the rich just get richer
and the poor you don't ever have to see
It would depress us, Karl
Because we care
that the world still isn't fair

Comments/Interpretations

by Peter Levenda on 8/5/2008 10:50pm
I have no idea if this song is actually meaning what it says, or if the lyrics are meant to be interpreted in a facetious way.

by John McCain on 11/5/2008 8:58pm
Well Peter, we (not me) just elected a Marxist to the highest office in the land. ("They tried out your plan, it brought misery instead") Let me know in four years if the world still isn't fair or if it's all 'ducks and bunnies' 24/7.

by Karl Marx on 11/19/2008 5:06pm
Wait a minute, no one has ever even TRIED my plan. In fact, I don't think anyone has ever even READ one of my books all the way through, from the look of things. The effing Bolshies killed the Communist experiment in favor of a top-down party-run totalitarian fascist state. Bugger Lenin, Stalin, Mao & Trotsky, too. All I ever advocated was a socialist democracy. Communism is supposed to be voluntary, or it isn't communism. Read my bleeding book!

BTW, I think Randy Newman gets the irony just right in this song.

by jen on 1/13/2009 5:32pm
thats'what happend

by mapsguy1955 on 6/6/2009 7:13am
This is a great song with just the right amount of irony. It is good that we have a president in the USA who sees life and all of us, not just those at the top. If the planet is going to survive for mankind, we need someone like Obama, not one who simply thinks they are right because of their party affiliation. The average voter isn't as stupid as some would think!

by ty on 2/22/2011 11:34pm
haha ummmmm hmmmmmmm ummmmm. "The world isn't fair it isn't and never will be".... What isnt understandable about that. The world isnt fair, It's an imperfect world . Therefore marxism never works.. no productivty if no rewards. people get tired of trying with no motivation. Thats why capitalism always works best. Yes some will not have everything. Some because they didnt try and some because The world isnt fair. In a marxist society the country fails and hurts soceity as a whole becuase there is no forward movement. The ability to fail is what allows success and improvment

by Y'all Crazy on 3/28/2011 1:23am
The song is obviously calling out the shameless attitude of the United States, but more importantly is highlighting the past and present condition of the world, namely one that has such dichotomy between the rich and poor. Notice that the song ends with the words "We care, that the world, still isn't fair.", and from this I gather that he has hopes that one day it might be closer to fair. He isn't advocating capitalism at all, and he's not using Marx to call Obama a socialist.

by JohnMcCainIsAnIdiot on 8/3/2011 11:31am
Hey John. You're truly an uneducated mindless simpleton idiot if you think Big O is a Marxist. He a Corporatist... just like most of America's Presidents behind him.

by JohnMcCainIsAnIdiot on 8/3/2011 11:33am
Hey Karl... I'm glad you got your say... to many ijits like JohnMcCain here.

by Greg B on 12/11/2012 1:41pm
B'gawd, "hive mentality" works ! As the comments above evolved, truth evolved IMHO.

BTW McCain, history ain't shining brightly upon your judgement. You've transitioned from what was represented as a gen-u-ine war hero to a desperate ambitious politician. Not pretty to watch.

And hive mentality may have also done the right thing nationally and re-elected the smartest guy in the room again. He ain't perfect but he's the best of the lot.

by Geoff Q on 6/13/2014 12:29am
Karl Marx above has it right about his namesake.