Story Behind The Song

Adapted from Buddhist folklore

Song Description

story with a moral - how to feel like your problems aren't so bad when you compare them to the one-eyed turtle's

Lyrics

A few thousand years ago as legend would be
There lived a one-eyed turtle at the bottom of the sea
He had no limbs, no flippers, but hope he held high
That he'd float along until dinner swam by

The shell on his back was as cold as the arctic snow
But his poor belly burned like Vesuvius, ready to blow
And there's more to the way the One-Eyed Turtle Blues goes

All day long he moaned 'bout what he lacked:
To cool off his belly & get the sun on his back
He prayed, "Send me a log o' that old sandalwood tree,
And lay me in its hollow on the crest of the sea!"

But a hollow too large or too small, he cannot use
'Cause he'll either fall in or get washed away
Then he can't lose
Those no-win, digustin', One-Eyed Turtle Blues.

Now even if the hollow's size in the perfect log appears
The wave that rides to the surface comes 'round only once in 1000 years.

Let's say for argument he got to the top
And he spots a ripe one where his belly can flop
Let's not forget that he's a one-eyed display
And when he thinks he's drifting closer he is drifting away

So when you think your options are low, and you gotta choose
Between a rock and a hard place, it could be worse news
You could be afflicted with the One-Eyed Turtle Blues!