"Unendurable Pain"

In high school, I wrote an angry poem called “All the World’s a Porno Movie.” At Northwestern, I turned the ugly poem into an ugly song. Still later, in Boston, that song turned into this slightly less ugly song.

Unendurable Pain

© 1989 Brian Hutzell

Take a look at this man's life:
Every night after work he beats his wife
And the funny thing is she never complains
And they both live in unendurable pain

Take a look at this girl's life:
She doesn't care to be a proper wife
She only thinks about getting laid
And she drifts along in unendurable pain

It hurts, it hurts
It hurts to be alone in the world
It hurts, it hurts
If it seems unendurable now, it'll just get worse

Take a look at this kid's life
From a tender age he's carried a knife
He likes his crack; he likes his gang
And they all live in unendurable pain

Raise your glass and drink a toast
To those who still find time to boast
About the goodness here on Earth
I'll take this life for what it's worth

It hurts, it hurts
It hurts to be alone in the world
It hurts, it hurts
If it seems unendurable now, it'll just get worse

Take a look at everyone
As they run to and fro, acting like their work is done
But in fact they can only run the length of their chains
And most of them live in unendurable pain
The world is full of unendurable pain
It's hard to avoid unendurable pain
We can't escape unendurable pain

"Stress"

Brian Hutzell