"There but for Fortune" (1963); Ochs here paraphrases a proverbial expression "There, but for the grace of God, go I", which was itself a paraphrase of John Bradford's expression on seeing other prisoners being led to their execution as heretics to be burned at the stake: There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford. (as quoted in Problems in the Relations of God and Man (1911) by Clement Charles Julian Webb, p. 107)
Lyrics
Variant: There but for fortune, go you or I
You or I.
“Show me an alley, show me a train
Show me a hobo who sleeps out in the rain
And I'll show you a young man
With many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I”
"There but for Fortune" (1963)
Lyrics
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Phil Ochs 48
American protest singer and songwriter 1940–1976Related quotes
“Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man.”
“Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past.”
Variant: Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past.
“You show me a capitalist, and I'll show you a bloodsucker”
“Show me a poet, and I'll show you a shit.”
The New Yorker, March 28, 1953, quoted in David Remnick, "Reporting It All: A.J. Liebling at 100", The New Yorker, March 29, 2004.
“Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser.”
Source: As quoted in "One Hard Way to Make a Living" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1981/05/04/one-hard-way-to-make-a-living by Roger Angell, in The New Yorker (May 4, 1981), p. 96; reprinted in Late Innings (1982) by Roger Angell, p. 358
“Show me a person who doesn't have a past and I'll show you a boring bastard”
Source: Last Chance Saloon
“Show me someone without an ego, and I'll show you a loser.”