The Sum of Us

Some of us were working to keep progress on the road
While some of us were working on the tests
Some of us were aching for we carried heavy loads
While some of us were just doing our best
Some of us were working hard to keep us safe and fed
Some of us were locked down in our homes
Some of us were making masks and others baking bread
Some of us were bored down to our bones

Some of us were sewing scrubs and some were sowing seeds
Some were stitching fragments into plans
Some were holding Zoom meetings with babies on our knees
Some were holding only lonely hands
Some of us were shattered working day and night
Some of us our jobs had died a death
Some of us were drawing coloured rainbows shining bright
Some of us were drawing our last breath

When we summon up the sum of all our strengths
And we multiply the sum of us will go to any lengths
Now, oh, just do the maths

Some of us shared photographs of where and who we'd been
Some of us were keen and fresh and young
Some of us were singing 'Happy Birthday' into screens
Some of us were weeping as it's sung
Some of us were living with an illness and a fear
Some of us were living on our phones
Some of us were living without all that we held dear
Some of us were living on our own

When we summon up the sum of all our strengths
And we multiply the sum of us will go to any lengths
Now, oh, just do the maths

For some of us the sum of us has always been the need
For some of us the sum of us the hope
For some of us the sum of us is lesser than our greed
With some of us just left to try and cope
Some of us are wealthy, some of us are poor
Some of us can buy a magic pill
But some of us know some of us won't cut it anymore
If some of us are sick we all are ill

When we summon up the sum of all our strengths
And we multiply the sum of us will go to any lengths
Oh, just do the maths