If Only He Applied Himself

Oh if I hadn’t been so stubborn
I could have been a great many things
I’d have a larger estate
And a shorter list of sins
I should have been a good boy
Like me ma begged me to be
Spared her coming back home
To find mud up to me knees

But I never paid attention
I had me head way over me heels
Lost through songs and stories
Scattered dreams to make real
“If only he applied himself”
It’s what teachers used to say
But their aim to be wealthy
Well, it never called on me

There’s no quid, no glory
Nor a pat on your back
It’s a short lived story
Told by one of many names
“He never fully achieved
His potentiality”
But I had nothing else to do
Than just live happily

If I listened to them all
I should be already dead
Or maybe I’ d be a businessman
That’s an even much worse end
But it happened I had a talent
Not for singing, not for dance
But for wasting money and time
Trying to be the man I am

I never wanted to take on
The whole world with a song
But just leave me tiny mark
‘Thought soon wiped out and gone
I tried to be a curious man
But I did it for meself
For to see the world and squander
Was an all-cure for me health

There’s no quid, no glory
Nor a pat on your back
It’s a short lived story
Told by one of many names
“He never fully achieved
His potentiality”
But I had nothing else to do
Than just live happily

The words I choose so carefully
On a dusty shelf lie will
Among some of the greatest
That I’m not worth being with
More likely they’d be handy
To steady a table leg
But being so sophomoric
I’ve had me mighty craic

For those who come right after me
I’ve some tired old lines to give:
Don’t be afraid to be
Whoever you are meant to be
There’ll always be a road somewhere
Leading us out of despair
But don’t take life too seriously
An drink every drop of it

There’s no quid, no glory
Nor a pat on your back
It’s a short lived story
Told by one of many names
“He never fully achieved
His potentiality”
But I had nothing else to do
Than just live happily