Song of Being A Child Lyrics

Words by Peter Handke 
When the child was a child
It walked with arms hanging
Wanted the stream to be a river and the river a torrent 
And this puddle, the sea
When the child was a child, it didn't know 
It was a child
Everything for it was filled with life and all life was one 
Saw the horizon without trying to reach it
Couldn't rush itself And think on command 
Was often terribly bored
And couldn't wait
Passed up greeting the moments 
And prayed only with it's lips 
When the child was a child
It didn't have an opinion about a thing 
Had no habits
Often sat crossed-legged, took off running 
Had a cow lick in it's hair
And didn't put on a face when photographed 

When the child was a child
It was the time of the following questions 
Why am I me and why not you
Why am I here and why not there 
Why did time begin and where does space end
Isn't what I see and hear and smell 
Just the appearance of the world in front of the world
Isn't life under the sun just a dream 
Does evil actually exist in people
Who really are evil 
Why can't it be that I who am
Wasn't before I was 
And that sometime I, the I, I am
No longer will be the I, I am 

When the child was a child 
It gagged on spinach, on peas, on rice pudding
And on steamed cauliflower
And now eats all of it and not just because it has to 
When the child was a child
It woke up once in a strange bed 
And now time and time again
Many people seem beautiful to it 
And now not so many and now only if it's lucky
It had a precise picture of paradise 
And now can only vaguely conceive of it at best
It couldn't imagine nothingness 
And today shudders in the face of it
Go for the ball
Which today rolls between it's legs 
With it's I'm here it came
Into the house which now is empty 

When the child was a child
It played with enthusiasm
And now only with such former concentration
Where it's work is concerned
When the game, task, activity, subject happens to be it's work 

When the child was a child
It was enough to live on apples and bread. And it's still that way
When the child was a child berries fell
Only like berries into it's hand. And still do
The fresh walnuts made it's tongue raw. And still do
Atop each mountain it craved
Yet a higher mountain. And in each city it craved
Yet a bigger city. And still does
Reach for the cherries in the treetop
As elated as it still is today
Was shy in front of strangers. And still is
It waited for the first snow. And still waits that way
When the child was a child
It waited restlessly each day for the return of the loved one
And still waits that way
When the child was a child
It hurled a stick like a lance into a tree
And it's still quivering there today 

The child, the child was a child
Was a child, was a child, was a child, was a child
Child, child, child
When the child, when the child, when the child
When the child, when the child
The child, child, child, child, child 

(added words by Van Morrison)
And on and on and on and on, etc. And onward
With a sense of wonder
Upon the highest hill. Upon the highest hill
When the child was a child
Are you there
Shassas, shassas
Up on a highest hill
When the child was a child, was a child, was a child 
Was a child, was a child, was a child, etc. 

(fade to end)