Why should I to your cry lend my ears?
And why should I be touched by your tears?
Why should I seek you out from the cold street
And replace your wet rags with my warm sheet?
Please give me just one reason.

Why should I offer you a place to lay your head?
And why should I share with you my hard-won bread?
Why should I hearken your tear-inspiring story
And let you share even a tiny bit of my glory?
Please give me just one reason.

Why should I clean and bind up your bruise?
And why should I care if it resulted from an abuse?
Why should I pour my precious oil on your head?
And why should I save you from the foes you dread?
Please give me just one reason

Why should I care about your burdens that swag?
And why should I be sad to see your spirits sag?
Why should I care about what you say or think?
And why should I care if you shrink or even sink?
Please give me just one reason.

Why should your situation give me any bother?
And why should I treat you like a child of my mother?
Why should I shed my light on your dark way
Or encourage you till the dawn of a new day?
Please give me just one reason.

Why should I try by any means your soul to save?
And why should I weep as you go to your grave?
Why should I lift you up from the dust
And why should I do for you anything that’s just?
Please give me just one reason.

Can’t I just pray for help for you from above?
Can’t I just plead with others to show you some love?
Can’t I just show you your errors that brought you doom
And advise you to hug your sorrow that will ever loom?
Can’t I do just these and go to sleep?