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Hüsker Dü

Charity, Chastity, Prudence, and Hope

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Charity, Chastity, Prudence, and Hope Lyrics

She gave her little child a name
A ward of welfare she became
And then one day she met a man
Digging through the trash for cans

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

It was his aluminum
That attracted her to him
And quite a day there did unfold
Turning garbage into gold

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

She took that money in a trunk
And bought a bunch of worthless junk
And now they're back where they began
Digging through the trash for cans

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

Submitted by

telos On Jan 07, 2005

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Telos

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2005-01-07 11:11:08

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Cover art for Charity, Chastity, Prudence, and Hope lyrics by Hüsker Dü

by elwyn5150

15y ago

I think these are some of the worst lyrics Grant has ever written. Musically, it's pretty good. He has written so much better than this.

The narrative is truly awful in this song and very very inversely/cynically ties in with the four virtues of charity, chastity, prudence and hope:

a mother gives her child away for adoption (charity)
she meets a man collecting cans to sell to recycling and they fall in love during the day (chastity)
they make a lot of money from selling the cans and invest it poorly (prudence)
they are back exactly where they started (hope)?

At least it's not as heavy-handed as "Soldier".

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