The Rock

"The rock is gonna' fall on us!"
He woke with a start;
And he ran to his mother,
The fear dark at his heart.
And he told her of the vision
That he was sure he'd seen.
She said, "Go back to sleep, son.
You're having a bad dream"
(Counterpoint chorus: Silly child)
"Everybody knows the rock leans over the town.
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground.
Remember Chicken Little said the sky was fallin' down;
Well, nothin' ever came of that,
The world still whirls around.
"The rock is gonna' fall on us!"
He stood and told the class.
The professor put his chalk down,
And peered out through his glass(es).
But he went on and said,
"I've seen it, high upon the hill;
If it doesn't fall this year,
Then very soon it will."
(Counterpoint chorus: Crazy boy)
"Everybody knows the rock leans over the town.
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground.
We've more important studies,
Than your fantasies and fears.
You know that rock's been perched up there
For a hundred thousand years."
"The rock is gonna' fall on us!"
He told the magistrate.
"I believe that we can stop it,
But the time is getting late.
You see -- I've done all the research,
My plans are all complete."
He was showing them contingencies,
When they showed him to the street.
(Counterpoint chorus: Just a madman)
"Everybody knows the rock leans over the town.
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground.
Everybody knows of those who say the end is near
Everybody knows that life goes on as usual, 'round here."
He went up on the mountain,
Beside the giant stone.
They knew he was insane,
So they left him all alone.
He'd given up enlisting help,
For there was no one else.
He spent his days devising ways
To stop the rock himself.
One night while he was working,
Building braces on the ledge,
The ground began to rumble;
The rock trembled on the edge.
"The rock is gonna' fall on us.
Run or you'al'll be crushed.
And -- indeed -- the rock was moving;
Crumbling o'er the dust.
He ran under it with one last hope
That he could add a prop.
And as he disappeared,
The rock came to a stop.
The people ran into the street,
But, by then, all was still.
The rock seemed where it always was;
Or where it always will (be).
When someone asked where he had gone,
They said, "Aw, he was daft...
Who cares about that crazy fool?"
And then they'd start to laugh.
But high up on the mountain,
When the wind is hitting it,
And you're watching very closely,
The rock slips a little bit...