Inherit the Earth

copyright 1985 Stephen Savitzky. CC-by-nc-sa.

Recordings:

Lyrics [pdf] [txt] [cho]

	Am	Em
	The choice comes for everything	living

	Am
The challenge to grow or to	die

	Dm	Am
To	stay in the dust with the	earthworms,

	Em	Am
Or to	soar with the birds in the	sky.

	Dm	Am
The	stars now are calling to	mankind

	Dm	Am
To	abandon the world of their	birth.

	Dm	Am
The	bold ones will answer them	gladly,

	Em	Am
And the	meek will inherit the	Earth.

Dm Em Am

The deeps of space are calling,

Dm Am

Past the moon, past the orbit of Mars.

Dm Am

So let the meek inherit the Earth,

Em Em7 Am Em Am

While the rest of us go to the stars.

Pollution and war and disaster,

May leave nothing human alive;

With all of our eggs in one basket,

How do we expect to survive?

Will we give the world back to the insects,

And blow our own species to Hell,

Or find a new home in the Heavens?

Now only the future will tell.

The moons and the planets are waiting,

In space, where our future belongs;

There's a place for explorers and builders

For dreamers and singers of songs

There are riches beyond all accounting

And wonders past anyone's dreams,

There is time for the longest of journies,

And space for the grandest of schemes.

So come men and women and children,

To the spaceports and let us embark.

It's time to climb out of the cradle,

Unless you're afraid of the dark.

Though ruin and death may be waiting,

At least we've the stars for our goal.

Far better to fail on the journey,

Than to stay and let fear rot your soul.

Now is the time for decision;

Our closed world is open at last.

Will we go forth and build our own future,

Or stay with the ghosts of the past?

The spaceships stand ready and waiting:

Will we use them or leave them to rust?

Will we rise on their fire like the Phoenix,

Or lie down with the worms in the dust?