Everybody Gets A Chance To Shine
Composed years ago for Chance to shine at the launch of my children’s character Harry Bear MP, but never used. Revived now when the world, especially the cricket world, seems to want and need uplifting lyrics.
The
night may seem too dark for you to dream
But
a new day is waiting there in line.
Somebody
wants you in their team:
Everybody
gets a chance to shine.
The
rain never lasts your whole life through,
The
sky will unlock and turn out fine.
So
reach up and paint it red and blue:
Everybody
gets a chance to shine.
There’s nothing
that you can’t hit,
There’s nothing
that you can’t throw,
There’s nothing
that you can’t catch,
And nothing that
you can’t know.
You
can squeeze the whole world inside a ball,
And
stitch it tight with thread and twine,
So
catch it on the run, don’t let it fall:
Everybody
gets a chance to shine.
You
don’t always need to be so strong,
But
just to use your bat in perfect time,
And
watch your world-and-ball go swift and long:
Everybody
gets a chance to shine.
There’s nothing
that you can’t hit,
There’s nothing
that you can’t throw,
There’s nothing
that you can’t catch,
And no way that
you won’t grow.
You
don’t have to live inside your past:
The
scorer will make another sign.
So
play each innings better than the last:
Everybody
gets a chance to shine
There’s nothing
that you can’t hit,
There’s nothing
that you can’t throw,
There’s nothing
that you can’t catch,
No seed that you
cannot sow.
So
don’t lock yourself inside your space:
There’s
a game going on, it’s yours and mine,
It’s
being played in every living place:
Everybody
gets a chance to shine.
©
Richard Heller