William Finn - Only One lyrics

[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!