Brodsky's Song

[intro] [verse 1] Like everyone else, we can be cheerful and moody, But if you have to choose, the choice is hard, so gloomy. They’ll say, “You haven’t lived yet, don’t you see? Just begin — the world is yours, believe in me.” Oh, they’ll offer beaches, vernissages, steamships full of gold, Carriages, horse races, voyages — stories yet untold. [chorus 1] But we choose wooden costumes, Even when the light fades out. We choose wooden costumes, While the world sings loud and proud. People… People… Whispering their promises, We still choose wooden costumes — Our truth, our silence, our essence. [verse 2] They may even offer us a cigarette, kind and slow: “Ah, you haven’t smoked for so long — it’s time to go. You haven’t even started living yet,” they’ll sigh, One puff — more cheerful thoughts, but we ask: “Why?” They’ll lay a happy life on a silver platter, bright and grand, So polite, so gentle — but we stand, hand in hand. [chorus 2] But we choose wooden costumes, Even when the light fades out. We choose wooden costumes, While the world sings loud and proud. People… People… Whispering their promises, We still choose wooden costumes — Our truth, our silence, our essence. [bridge] And they will be cheerful or gloomy, Evil jesters, good judges — playing their part. But we won’t lose what’s truly in us, Wooden costumes — the quiet of the heart. [chorus 3] We choose wooden costumes, Even when the light fades out. We choose wooden costumes, While the world rages, shouts, and doubts. People… People… Beating us, breaking us, Still we wear wooden costumes — Not for glory, not for praise, but for truth’s sake. [Outro] People, People, Wooden costumes…