William Finn Only One
[WOMAN]
If just one student learns the beauty of aesthetics
Then that's fine
I need only one
Or if one student learns the wonders of poetics
Then he's mine
And my work here will be done
And if one student values structure
Learns that words can be valuable and fun
Show me twenty students who despise
The poems they have to memorize
Alright, I need only one
And if one student learns that books can be ecstatic
What the heck?
I don't need romance
If I've wasted my life being firm and autocratic
I'm a spec in an orbiting expanse
What I did was always well intentioned
And what's done, folks, is ultimately done
Give me eighty students who deplore
The fact that I demanded more
Screw 'em!
I need only
One student who rarely watches television
One student who understands the value of precision
Are there limits to my teaching?
Was I always overreaching?
Probably, I was
And so what if I was?
I've been told that my life is ending very shortly
That's alright, I do not like scenes
Since I'm not someone's wife, and I don't have any children
I won't fight or be hooked up to machines
But for that special kid who liked me
He who laughed at an inauspicious pun
Let him fondly ponder who I was
And represent me well, because
There'll be only one
There'll be only one
There'll be only one
Only one
Da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da da
Da da da da da da
Da da da da da
So I'll live with the fact
That I'm prickly and derisive
That I will, and not make amends
I was born without tact
I was born to be decisive
And I still don't have very many friends
But I taught what I knew needing teaching
If they fought me, they learned who held the gun
So who's students always did the best
On every statewide essay test?
Count 'em!
I'm the only one
I'm the only one!