What Keeps Mankind Alive?
Pet Shop Boys
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You gentlemen who think you have a mission To purge us of the seven deadly sins Should first sort out the basic food position Then start your preaching, that's where it begins You lot, who preach restraint and watch your waist as well Should learn for all time how the world is run However much you twist, whatever lies you tell Food is the first thing, morals follow on [Chorus] So first make sure that those, who now are starving Get proper helpings, when we all start carving What keeps mankind alive, the fact that millions Are daily tortured, stifled, punished, silenced, oppressed Mankind can keep alive, thanks to its brilliance At keeping its humanity repressed For once, you must not try to shirk the facts Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts You say the girls may strip with your permission You draw the line dividing art from sin So first sort out the basic food position Then start your preaching, that's where it begins You lot, who bank on your desires and our disgust Should learn for all time how the world is run Whatever lies you tell, however much you twist Food is the first thing, morals follow on [Chorus] Mankind can keep alive, thanks to its brilliance At keeping its humanity repressed For once, you must not try to shirk the facts Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts
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Written by: BERTOLT BRECHT, EUGEN BERTHOLD BRECHT, KURT WEILL
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
4 facts about this song
Song Overview1. "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" is a song that has been performed by both Pet Shop Boys and Tom Waits.
2. The song was originally written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill for the 1928 play "The Threepenny Opera."
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Pet Shop Boys Version3. The Pet Shop Boys covered "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" and included it on the B-side of their 1993 single "Can You Forgive Her?"
4. The band's cover is a synth-pop interpretation of the originally dark and morose song.
5. The version of the Pet Shop Boys uses electronic beats and synthesizers combined with the typically deep and conclusive voice of Neil Tennant, one half of the British duo.
6. The single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart and number 2 in the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
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Tom Waits Version7. American singer and songwriter Tom Waits covered "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" on his 1985 album "Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill."
8. Waits' version retains the original song's somber tone, emphasizing the dark lyrics with his unique, gritty vocal style.
9. This cover is often considered one of the definitive interpretations of the song due to Waits' distinctive style aligning well with Brecht and Weill's original composition.
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Context and Lyrics10. Bertolt Brecht's lyrics to "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" confront social injustice and critique bourgeois morality.
11. The title question is answered in the song with the line, "The fact that millions are daily tortured, stifled, punished, silenced and oppressed."
12. The powerful critique is said to remain relevant in modern times, hence its popularity with artists such as Tom Waits and the Pet Shop Boys.
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