It’s Never a Mistake to Say Goodbye

Why don’t we worry about nuclear war?
We don’t build bomb shelters in every yard, anymore
Our dreams aren’t haunted by that unearthly light
The hopes and fears of sixty years don’t keep us up at night

Tiger got to sleep, bird’s got to land
Man’s got to tell himself that he understands
Scientists puzzle, politicians lie
It is never a mistake to say goodbye

Poets and painters call for nuclear war
We need disaster to know what we’re here for
Annihilation has a funny way of focusing the mind
The hopes and fears of all these years are finally solved tonight

Tiger got to hunt, bird has to fly
You don’t ever have to wait to say goodbye
Every night I worry, every night I cry
Every night I wonder, “why, why, why, why, why?”

Why don’t we worry about nuclear war?
What keeps us up at night like we were before?
What makes the human race keep all our promises
If we don’t have a mortal fear keeping us honest?

You better learn this lesson as soon as you are able
No damn cat and no damn cradle
Each one of us destroys a world at the moment that we die
It is never a mistake to say goodbye

Why don’t we worry about nuclear war?
We don’t build bomb shelters in every yard, anymore
Our dreams aren’t haunted by that unearthly light
The hopes and fears of sixty years are still with us tonight