Five Blind Men
David Roth

Walking in the woods one day with five blind men a-following
We came upon an elephant just resting in a glade
What have we here the blind men cried, for none had ever seen one
An elephant was my reply, 'just sitting in the shade

An elephant I did explain is big and friendly, gray and slow
An elephant does not forget, and sprays things with its nose
Before I could continue on, the five blind men had found it
And moving with their hands and ears had made their way around it

The first blind man had grabbed its leg and proudly he concluded
An elephant is like a tree, it's strong and firm and rooted
The second blind man said Hold on, that's not what I have here
For he was feeling round the tusk and called the beast a spear

The third blind man was in the front, clinging to a trunkly nose
It's neither spear nor tree said he, an elephant's a hose
Around the other way beside a giant ear, the fourth blind man
Stroking, found it wide and flat, and much more like a fan
And lastly bringing up the rear, the fifth blind man did grab and grope
And playing with the tail declared the elephant a rope

Just right then our gentle friend, not used to such attention
Got up to stretch and move a bit, and turned a ways around
But when he sat back down again, the parts were out of order
And each blind man was feeling parts the other four had found

The first said, Wait, what was a tree now feels much more like a spear
The second said, That's what I thought, but now a hose is here
The third who thought he'd held the hose was fondling now a fan
Which, incidentally, was a rope now to the fourth blind man

The fifth blind man who'd held the tail was now beside a leg, you see
So what he thought had been a rope was suddenly a tree
And all at once the five blind men began to laugh and shout
And realized that each was right and joyfully stomped about

An elephant, they sweetly sang Is all these things
And much, much more
The sum of which is greater than the parts we'd felt before
It just depends on where you stand they said, and then they turned
To thank the gentle giant for the lesson we had learned

So off we went, the five blind men and me, out in the wood
But this time I was following them, as humbly as I could
For they had blessed me with a gift, a sparkling truth revealed
Whatever you might think you see

Depends on where you stand

And how you feel


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Lyrics by David Roth

  A Little Something More   Ahmed al-Khatib   Air of the Dog   American Car   Another Day at Moses Brown   Bake Sale   Be Kind to Yourself   Before I Die   Camp Grenola   Cape Cod   Catherine and Georgia   Cheesecake   Community of Faith   Cutter of Stone   Digging Through My Closet   Dragon To Butterfly   Earth   Ego Trip   Elijah   Everybody   Fateful Intersection   First Class   Flag of Hope   Foreign Guns   Goodbye to My Dad   Gush or Bore   Halloween   Hank & Hymie   Heaven on Earth   Holland   How Do You Hold On To Love   I Do Not Need A Bag   I Have Learned   I Would Fight For You   John & Josie   Just A Wall   Kids   Know Your Love   Land of the Litres and Meters   Legacy   Lend Your Heart to Love   Lipstick on the Mirror   Little Christmas Song   Long White Car   Looking In For Number One   Lost Wallet Waltz   Lullaby   Magic Pill   Mailing List   Manuel Gracia   Mariner Fever   May the Light of Love   Meatloaf   Moonlight Piano Favorites   Morning Person   My Work Day   Never Go Together   New House in Orleans   Nights at the Chez   Nine Gold Medals   No Apologies   One Day at the Gates   Pearl Diver   Playing Catch   Practice Makes Perfect   Rise We Will   Rising In Love   Rocket Science   Rosa and the Three Ks   Satyagraha   Seconds and Thirds   Seven Wonders   Some Kind of Hero   Someone Standing There   Sounding   Spacesuits   Special Penny   Subscriptions   Susitna   Taller Than His Hair   Thank You, Mr. Ryan   The Armor Song   The Dream   The Jordan Waltz   The Rance of All Compassions   The Saga of Freddie & Sam   Things That Do Not Serve Me   This Is The Year   Those Two Times   Three Signs   Time For Bed   Trying to Dance   Two for One in Podunk Town   Valentine in Panama   Waltzing Imelda   We Belong Together   What Can I Do   Will You Come Home   You Remind Me   Zip Cord Rip Code

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