SOMEBODY ELSE

Somebody wants a new bonnet to wear;

Somebody wants a new dress;

Somebody needs a new bow for her hair,

And never the wanting grows less.

Oh, this is the reason I labor each day

And this is the joy of my tasks:

That deep in the envelope holding my pay

Is something that somebody asks.

I could go begging for water and bread

And travel the highways of ease,

But somebody wants a roof over his head

And stockings to cover his knees.

I could go shirking the duties of life

And laugh when necessity pleads,

But rather I stand to the toil and the strife

To furnish what somebody needs.

Somebody wants what I've strength to supply,

And somebody's waiting for me

To come home to-night with money to buy

Her bread and her cake and her tea.

And as I am strong so her laughter will ring,

And as I am true she will smile;

It's the somebody else of the toiler or king

That makes all the struggle worth while.

Somebody needs all the courage I own,

And somebody's trust is in me;

For never a man who can go it alone,

Whatever his station may be.

So I stand to my task and I stand to my care,

And struggle to come to success,

For the ribbons to tie up somebody's hair,

And my somebody's pretty new dress.