Oh, I learned a lesson

from the twentieth century

I don’t think we should just dismiss

After one hundred years of inhumanity

the lesson that I learned was this

Sometimes the solution

is worse than the problem

Let’s stay together

Well I bought a ticket

to the revolution

and I cheered when the statues fell

Everyone came to destroy what was wicked

but they killed off what was good as well

Sometimes the solution

is worse than the problem

Let’s stay together

Stay with me

this century

Together we’re better

Oh, I learned a lesson

from the twentieth century

It may be somewhat hit or miss

If you’ve certainty

’bout the way we’re all meant to be

the lesson that you need is this

Sometimes the solution

is worse than the problem

Let’s stay together

2005. Modern history is full of examples of the solution being worse than the problem. For instance: Tsarism is the problem, Stalinism the solution; communism in Asia is perceived as a problem to which the Vietnam War is intended to provide the solution; the European Union is a problem, Brexit is the solution. This lyric then takes the lesson learned from history and applies it to a personal relationship: ‘Let’s stay together’.