DO NO HARM

This is the final song from a show about the hopes of youth in the 1960s and how so many of them foundered in violence and disillusion. It’s sung by a couple who went from naïve idealism to sobered resignation and a determination to adapt to a new reality in the most positive way they could. –J. Linn Allen

DO NO HARM” from the musical

IN THAT DAWN

FIRST, DO NO HARM.

FOR ALL WHO WANT TO GET IT RIGHT

NO MATTER WHERE YOU SET YOUR SIGHT

NO MATTER HOW YOU SHINE YOUR LIGHT

REPEAT THE MANTRA LIKE A CHARM

FIRST THING–DO NO HARM. 


WE’RE MADE OF WHAT SURROUNDS US

THE DARKEST EARTH, THE LIGHTEST AIR

LET OUR LIGHT WITH DARKNESS SHARE

RISE WITH THE SUN AND SEE IT DOWN

AND SAY AN EVENING PRAYER.


PLANT OUR CROPS AND NURTURE THEM

WATER THEM AND HOE THE WEEDS

PICK AND EAT THEM WHEN THEY’RE READY

IN THE FALL PUT UP PRESERVES

ALWAYS SAVE THE SEEDS.


BUT FIRST, WE’LL DO NO HARM.

FOR ALL WHO WANT GET IT RIGHT

NO MATTER WHERE YOU SET YOUR SIGHT

NO MATTER HOW YOU SHINE YOUR LIGHT

INK THE MOTTO ON YOUR ARM

FIRST THING–DO NO HARM.


WE KNOW THERE HAVE TO BE SOLUTIONS

JUSTICE IN A WORLD OF WRONG

BUT DON’T GET LOST IN HATE AND FURY

SIT UP HIGH AS JUDGE AND JURY

WHERE YOU DON’T BELONG


IT’S ALWAYS EASY TO GET ANGRY

LET THE RIGHTEOUS BLOOD RUN HOT

SOMETIMES IT’S THE ONLY WAY

TO MAKE SURE EVIL’S ON DISPLAY

PUT POWER ON THE SPOT

BUT SOMETIMES MAYBE NOT


TIME AND FATE HAVE WAYS OF BRINGING

CONSEQUENCES NOT FORESEEN

WE CAN’T TELL HOW PRESENT DARKNESS

MIGHT RESULT IN LIGHT TOMORROW

OR SHADOWS IN BETWEEN


SO FIRST, DO NO HARM.

FOR ALL WHO WANT TO DO IT RIGHT

NO MATTER WHERE YOU SET YOUR SIGHT

NO MATTER HOW YOU SHINE YOUR LIGHT

SOUND IT LIKE A NIGHT ALARM–

FIRST THING–DO NO HARM.


DEAL WITH WIND AND DEAL WITH RAIN

HANDLE PROBLEMS THAT YOU CAN

ASK FOR GUIDANCE WHEN YOU NEED

ON YOUR OWN YOU WON’T SUCCEED

TRY TO HAVE A PLAN


AND FIRST, DO NO HARM.

FOR ALL WHO WANT TO GET IT RIGHT

NO MATTER WHERE YOU SET YOUR SIGHT

NO MATTER HOW YOU SHINE YOUR LIGHT

DOCTORS SAY IT

WE SHOULD ALL JOIN HANDS AND PRAY IT

THINK ABOUT IT EVERYDAY

GRIP IT LIKE A MAGIC CHARM

TRY TO DO NO HARM.