The Chicken or The Egg

The Germ Theory Opposed in Song

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For some of our non-native English-speaking readers, when people use the phrase "the chicken or the egg," they may be discussing situations where it's difficult to establish which event or element is the cause and which is the result, or they may be highlighting a complex, interdependent relationship between two factors that makes it challenging to determine a clear starting point.

The Chicken or The Egg is a song about the germ and terrain theories which are two contrasting perspectives in the field of medicine and microbiology that offer different explanations for the causes of disease.

I am on the side of the terrain theory which suggests that if your immune system is strong (internal terrain) you will not be susceptible to disease. However, this does not preclude environmental poisoning which represents the true external threat (not germs as the germ theorists posit) to our overall health.

Here are the lyrics.

The Chicken or the Egg

Verse 1:
I’m so confused
Hearing the news
People in so much pain
A lonely pup barks
We’re deep in the dark
How can we stop the rain?
Now I’ve been told
By others so bold
Invaders are NOW within
Invisible mites
Who put up a fight
Calamity now begins
Chorus: Oh help me find a way
I don’t want to beg
But which comes first
The chicken or the egg?

Verse 2:
Many will punt
But those in the hunt
Insist that they’ve found the key
Oh what a waste
You’ll get a taste
Of their so-called immunity
They seem so sure
They’ve found the cure
Now you cannot go back
But they’ll be one day
You’ll START to pray
Trapped in the cul-de-sac

Chorus: Oh help me find a way
I don’t want to beg
But which comes first
The chicken or the egg?

Bridge (1):
Long ago in the summer breeze
The ugly curse—the DDT
Brang so many to their knees
Such fear
We WERE taken for a ride
Polluted earth—those pesticides
for so long it was denied
It’s clear

Verse (instrumental)

Chorus: Oh help me find a way
I don’t want to beg
But which comes first
The chicken or the egg?

Bridge (2):
Must it be on your own terms?
We’ve heard enough of all those germs
Time for you to start to learn
Break through!
You’ve tried to drive us all insane
With your germs, they cause no pain
Just keep clean your terrain
It’s true!

Verse 3:
We’re still in the dark
Fear grips the heart
Call it a lonely land
Run by a bunch
(who are) all out to lunch
We bow to their command
We’re finally stuck
In a kind of a muck
0n top of the powder keg
No need to pout
(we) must figure it out
The chicken or the egg?