All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more
I used to care about pretty things. About gold and silver and shining jewels.
I used to take pleasure in nice things. In handbags and shoes and Pandora charms.
I don’t care about any of that any more.
All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more.
I used to care about my appearance. Spend lots of money and time on looking great.
I’d wear the best clothes and perfect make-up. I’d work hard to look my best.
I don’t care about any of that any more.
All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more.
I used to care about achievement. About my husband having a good job.
About my kids doing well at school. I used to take pride in all that we were and did as a family.
I don’t care about any of that any more.
All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more.
I used to care about cramming my life full of activity. About hobbies and exercise and socialising.
About music and books and films.
I don’t care about any of that any more.
All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more.
I used to care about what people thought of me. About what they were saying about me.
I’d do the right thing and say the right thing so that everyone would think well of me.
I don’t care about any of that any more.
All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more.
Since you’ve been gone, everything has changed.
None of those things matter any more.
I would give up all those things in a heartbeat to have you back with me.
Everything has changed. We had it all and didn’t know it. We were happy. We were rich.
And now you are not here and everything is meaningless.
How has it come to this?
How has it come to this?
How has it come to this?
How the gold has lost its lustre,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.
How the precious children of Zion,
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.
Because of thirst the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.
Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple
now lie on ash heaps.
The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
But now they are blacker than soot;
they are not recognised in the streets.
Their skin has shrivelled on their bones;
it has become as dry as a stick.
Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.
With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,
who became their food
when my people were destroyed. Lamentations 4:1-10
What one was is now no longer.
How has it come to this?
All that once mattered no longer matters.
How has it come to this?
Suffering has now brought everyone low and made them behave in unimaginable ways.
How has it come to this?
Since you’ve been gone, everything has changed.
None of those things matter any more.
I would give up all those things in a heartbeat to have you back with me.
Everything has changed. We had it all and didn’t know it. We were happy. We were rich.
And now you are not here and everything is meaningless.
How has it come to this?
How has it come to this?
How has it come to this?
