John Martyn - How Fortunate The Man With None Lyrics

You saw sagacious Solomon
And you know what became of him
To him, complexities seemed plain
But he cursed the hour that gave birth to his bad self
He saw that everything was vain
How great, how wise was Solomon
The world however did not wait
Just observed what followed on
It was the wisdom, that brought him to that state
Sweet wisdom, that brought him to that state
It was only wisdom, that brought him to that state
So how fortunate the man with none

You saw courageous Caesar next
You know what he let himself become
They deified him in his life
And had him murdered just the same
As they raised the fatal knife
How loud he cried: and you
The world however did not care
Just observed, carried on
It was courage that brought him to that state
It was courage that brought him to this state
Raw courage that brought him to that state
Well I might say, how fortunate the man with none
Could say

You heard of honest Socrates
He was a man who never lied
They weren't so grateful as you might think
The rulers fixed to have him tried
They handed him the poisoned drink
How honest was our people's son
This world however did not choose to wait
Just observed what followed on
It was his honesty that brought him to that state
Sweet honesty that brought him to that state
Sweet honesty that brought him to that state
How fortunate the man with some

Here you can see the respectable folk
They all keep to God's own laws
So far he has not taken heed
You who sit safe and sound indoors
Help to relieve our bitter needs
How virtuously we had begun
The world however will never wait
Just observes to carry on
It's fear of God that brought us to this state
It is the love of God that will take us home
It is the fear of God that brought us to this state
How fortunate the man with no fear
Got no fear