The price of milk and eggs
And bread is rising every day
Now with our bankbook in the red,
These bills are hard to pay
If we stop buying chocolate cake
And lived on green string beans
Exactly how much would it take
To live within our means?
Oh-oh-oh.
Oh-oh-oh.
Oh-oh-oh.
Imaginary Mary 1:
Put down “beans” and cross out “cake”.
Imaginary Mary 2:
Let me see, oh dear me!
Imaginary Mary3:
What a job to undertake!
Imaginary Mary 4:
Milk plus bread, oh my head!
All Marys:
Add, subtract, and multiply,
Till you're overcome.
Mary:
This is much too hard for us, we can’t do the sum.
The stove and rugs and furniture
Will soon be repossessed
This makes me feel quite insecure
And mentally depressed
Would we be better off somehow?
By living in a tent?
How can I pay the mortgage now
And save the 6 percent?
All Marys:
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Picture us inside a tent,
Beastly poor, insecure
We must save the 6 percent,
6 times X, how complex!
Numbers always stick our brains,
Why are we so dumb?
This is much too hard for us,
We can’t do the sum
I’m not a great financial whiz, of that there is no doubt.
The outcome of our income is our income's all gone out.
If we walk on our hands with care, instead of on our feet,
with what we save on shoe repair, suffice to make ends meet?
All Marys:
Oh-oh-oh.
Oh-oh-oh.
Oh-oh-oh.
Mary:
Walking on our hands with care,
Off our feet,
Make ends meet
Saving on our shoe repair
Leaving holes in our soles
What should we be adding to or subtracting from?
This is much too hard for me,
I can’t do the sum.
Looks like there’s no hope for me,
I can’t get out of debt.
If I marry Barnaby,
That's the end, why pretend?
Am I doing right or wrong?
My heart feels so numb.
No use trying any more,
I can’t do the sum.