How The World Works lyrics

Hey, kids

Today, we're gonna learn about the world

The world that's around us

Is pretty amazing

But how does it work?

It must be complicated

The secret is the world can only work

When everything works together

A bee drinks from a flower

And leaves with its pollen

A squirrel in a tree

Spreads the seeds that have fallen

Everything works together

The biggest elephant, the littlest fly

The gophers underground, the birds in the sky

And every single cricket, every fish in the sea

Gives what they can and gets what they need

That is how the world works

That is how the world works

From A to Zebra

To the worms in the dirt

That's how it works

Hey everyone

Look who stopped by to say hello

It's Socko

Hey!

Where you been, Socko?

I've been where I always am when you're not wearing me on your hand

In a frightening, liminal space between states of being

Not quite dead, not quite alive

It's similar to a constant state of sleep paralysis

Socko, we were just talking about the world and how it works

Boy, that sounds complicated!

Do you have anything you'd want to teach us about the world?

I wouldn't say anything that you probably haven't already said yourself

I don't know about that, Socko

How about you give it a try?

Alright!

The simple narrative taught in every history class

Is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist

Don't you know the world is built with blood?

And genocide and exploitation

The global network of capital essentially functions

To separate the worker from the means of production

And the FBI killed Martin Luther King

Private property's inherently theft

And neoliberal fascists are destroying the left

And every politician, every cop on the street

Protects the interests of the pedophilic corporate elite

That is how the world works

Really?

That is how the world works (that is how the world works)

Genocide, the Natives say you got to it first

That's how (that's how) it works

That's pretty intense

No shit

What can I do to help?

Read a book or something, I don't know

Just don't burden me with the responsibility of educating you

It's incredibly exhausting

I'm sorry, Socko

I was just trying to become a better person

Why do you rich fucking white people insist on seeing every socio-political conflict through the myopic lens of your own self-actualization?

This isn't about you

So either get with it, or get out of the fucking way

Watch your mouth, buddy

Remember who's on whose hand here

But that's what I

Have you not been fucking listening?

We are entrenched in

Alright, alright

Wait, no please!

I don't wanna go back, please

I can't go, I can't go back

Please, please, I'm sorry

Are you gonna behave yourself?

Yes

Yes, what?

Yes, sir

Look at me

Yes, sir

That's better

That is how the world works

That is how the world works

I hope you learned your lesson

I did and it hurt

That's how it works

No!

• Artist:Bo Burnham
• Album:Inside