We Count

'I Count' was written and first recorded in 1982.

This version is situated at the bottom of the page.

The latest interpretation (above - 'We Count') was created in January 2025.

The blues version (missing last verse) immediately below was also created in January 2025.

"When you're young and have to run away,
On your own and friendless with no place to stay,
And all the world is wary of an outstretched hand,
You feel just like a stranger in your native land.
You hit the street hard and it makes you pay,
But you can never go back to the family way,
'Cos your daddy's a drunk and your mother's a whore,
And you just can't take the strain any more.

When all you've got to show for your best laid plans
Is a cardboard box and hunger pangs,
And the Samaritan steals from your begging bowl,
It's hard on the heart and a struggle for the soul.
You can go a long time without a proper meal,
When you're too frail to fight and too afraid to steal.
And then it's OK Mister, you can do your worst,
Just as long as you feed me first.

We count you know.
We count.
We count you know.
We count.

You shiver all night and you sleep all day
And you dream about the pendulum a-swinging your way;
When a corner in the doorway of the status quo
Is a whole lot more than you'll ever know.
And its oh-so cold, the coldest night of the year,
And you're too weak to reason, too frozen to fear.
And it's OK, Mister, you don't have to lie,
Just so long as it's warm where I die.

We count, you know.
We count.
We count, you know.
We count.

We count, we count the cost.
We count the children lost.
Why do you make them pay?
When they were born but yesterday.

I'm happy for you, Mister, you're the man of the hour,
And I promise not to threaten your political power.
I'm not looking for a favour or a cheque in the mail;
I may be for rent but I'm not for sale.
And I'm not looking for a palace with a private zoo,
Nor a penthouse suite with a spectacular view.
No, all I ever wanted from the likes of you,
Was for you to realise that I count too.

We count you know.
We count.
We count you know.
We count.

I wouldn't begrudge you the silver spoon,
The castle or the bed of roses.
If you could only spare me a little room,
With a door... that closes."

The original 1982 version can be heard below: