Pick It Up And Pass It On

Pick it up and pass it on
Pick it up and pass it on
From the ones who’ve gone to the ones who are coming along

The sorrows and the jubilation
The stories and the revelations
The heavy spur of expectation
Moving down through the next generation
The gentle and the stern correction
The loving arms and the fierce protection
How to cope with cold rejection
The duties of the close connection

(We just) pick it up and pass it on
Pick it up and pass it on
From the ones who’ve gone to the ones who are coming along

How to strip and build an engine
How to throw a fishing line
How to start a meal with onions
And get it to the mouths on time
How to hit a ball that’s swerving
Like a swallow swooping by
And if by chance that ball should beat you
How to hold your head up high

Pick it up and pass it on
Pick it up and pass it on
From the ones who’ve gone to the ones who are coming along

But every good thing has another incarnation
Prejudice, indoctrination
Tribe on tribe, nation against nation
We reap just what we sow

The funny little variations
That jump around in different combinations
Granny’s laugh, a cousin’s famous temper
A dodgy back or a head for numbers

(We just) pick it up and pass it on
Pick it up and pass it on
From the ones who’ve gone to the ones who are coming along