Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk I've Got Better Things to Do 
I've Got Better Things to Do (Linda Allen) 
Why do I spend my life caught in this storm and strife Picking up puzzles to fit into boxes Papers and peanuts and soggy galoshes I've got better things to do than to pick up after you 
I could sail far away for a year and a day In a boat of shimmering blue To an island I know where the warm breezes blow And I know just what I would do I'd put up an umbrella on that glorious beach Right next to the NO CHILDREN sign And I'd read three whole books from beginning to end And more, if I'd feel so inclined 
Oh, why do I spend my life caught in this storm and strife Picking up socks and a moldy old bear Finding two months worth of old underwear I've got better things to do than to pick up after you 
I could give of my talents to challenge the makers Of war -- I would march, I would sing I would write twenty letters, or then, even better I'd give all the generals a ring And I'd talk to them nicely and ask them politely To give up their nuclear toys But if they won't say that they'll put them away Well it's "time out" for those ornery boys 
Oh, why do I spend my life caught in this storm and strife Picking up things that I can't recognize Covered with fungus and lazy fruit flies I've got better things to do than to pick up after you 
I could start up a workshop for mothers who've not stood up Straight since the youngest was born We'll do role-plays and cry, learn a mantra, and sigh "Born to stand" -- to repeat, every morn And then for the test we'll invite in a guest To drop socks in a heap on the floor Any woman who sweats and then trembles and heads For the socks must repeat the whole course 
Oh, why do I spend my life caught in this storm and strife Screaming and bribing and pleading my lot But will you pick up? No, you will not I've got better things to do than to pick up after you 
MC