<… Read Full Bio ↴Shane Koyczan is an award winning Canadian Poet, Author and Performer.
Shane’s first published collection, Visiting Hours, was the only work of poetry selected by both the Guardian and the Globe and Mail for their Best Books of the Year lists.
In 2012, Shane released his first full length album with his band Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long. The album includes the viral hit “To This Day”.
Help Wanted
Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'd hear her say, "Rise and shine.
The world is a window that holds a sign
There's help wanted somewhere."
So I rose and I shone.
I put on my shoes and I was gone.
See Grandma bought me my first phone.
Call the people don't.
Don't bother calling the people who have taken up a fight,
Call the people who won't."
And I learn at a very young age
Where my Grandma's rage came from.
The entire congregation would nod,
Never ask Grandma about God.
I'd argue with her everyday
All she'd say is, "Go down to the store
Buy some light bulbs,
And when you run out, buy some more.
Because the light at the end of your tunnel needs to be maintained.
You can't let it be stained by their beliefs are better than your beliefs.
And you can't agree to disagree, because they're fucking wrong!"
It's not the strong who have gotten lazy,
It's just that your vision is a little hazy.
You're not sure what you want,
But what you've got is all you need.
Falsed greed.
For every hypocritical church goer
Who won't walk past the beggars
'Cause they can't spare a dime.
Grandma said, "Fuck them,
I don't talk to God 'cause I ain't got the time."
And it struck me as strange.
Every time I walked past someone
Who stopped to ask me,
"Hey can you spare some change?"
Because, yes I can, but you see
I don't carry change around in my back pocket.
I don't wear it around my neck on a chain in some locket.
I keep change in the tip of my pen.
And it seeps out every now and then,
In spurts of angry ink that make me think,
Maybe the writing on the wall could use a little revision.
Grandma told me, "Stop trying to calculate the difference between people.
People don't need division.
Gotta stick it together.
Gotta love each other."
Father, brother, sister, mother, uncles, cousins, aunts,
Forget about the chance, the cheers, the jokes, the jeers.
After 2000 years, you'd think we'd know by now.
Grandma said, "We will only find equality in the number of tears."
And she was right,
Because I don't know what injustices you have suffer,
Based size, sex, race, religion,
Or the political pigeon shit on the shoulders of
Us versus them.
Like in Bethlehem,
When a man said, "Hey I could be wrong,
But can't we all just get along?"
No! So we nailed him to a tree.
See, justice isn't justice,
It just is.
And I can't change it,
You can't change it.
So we've just got to try and rearrange it.
And I could offer you this miracle.
A chance to see,
A chance to see what I see.
To see the way that people see me.
Because if seeing is believing,
And you see what I see,
We wouldn't want to see anymore.
But I've got a little surprise in store
For every man who looks upon me with judgment in his eye,
The women who looks upon me with wetness between her thighs.
I'm the world's greatest overweight lover.
And you might just laugh.
And you might just scoff.
My bones are made from sticks and stones
And names just piss me off.
Grandma told me, "Young man,
You can't be concerned with what ever it is they've got,
Because the only reason they think they're beautiful
Is the same reason they think you're not.
And, young man, you have beauty beyond measure.
You are a treasure entrenched in this earth.
You can't let strangers determine your worth.
Rise and shine!"
So I rose and I shone.
I put on my shoes and I was gone.
See, Grandma bought me my first phone.
She said, "Young man, from time to time,
I too need to smile.
Would you do me a favour and keep me on speed dial?"
Yes, Grandma, I will.
And still, to this day, I can call her up
And hear her say, "It's a game!
You play, you win.
You play, you lose.
You play!"
"Rise and shine!
The world is a window that holds a sign,
There is help wanted out there, somewhere.
But young man, if you are playing to win,
The first thing you have to do,
Is apply within."
The lyrics of Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long's song 'Help Wanted' depict the voice of wisdom that the singer has received from his grandmother. The song starts with the singer recalling how everyday his grandmother would come into his room and recite to him the lines, "Rise and shine. The world is a window that holds a sign. There's help wanted somewhere." The grandmother teaches him to put on his shoes and go out into the world to find the help that he needs. She further advises him to call only those people who won't bother to take a fight and ignore the people who do.
As the song progresses, the singer shares how he used to argue with his grandmother about religion and God. However, the grandmother would always ask him to maintain the light at the end of his tunnel and not let it be stained by anyone else's beliefs. She further asks him to love and stick with his family and forget the divisions of society. The singer shares that injustice is inevitable, but we can always try to rearrange it. In the end, the singer tells his grandmother that he would keep her on speed dial, and his grandmother reminds him to apply within to win.
Overall, the song portrays the values of love, perseverance, and hope that the singer has learned from his grandmother. He believes that we cannot change the world's inequalities, but we can always try to rearrange them by focusing on our strengths and ignoring our weaknesses.
Line by Line Meaning
Everyday, Grandma would come into my room
Grandma would visit my room daily
And I'd hear her say, "Rise and shine.
I would hear Grandma tell me to wake up
The world is a window that holds a sign
The world has opportunities to offer
There's help wanted somewhere."
There are jobs available
So I rose and I shone.
I woke up and got ready
I put on my shoes and I was gone.
I left the house
See Grandma bought me my first phone.
Grandma bought me a cell phone
She said, "Don't bother calling the people who care,
Grandma advised me not to call the caring people
Call the people don't.
Instead, I should call people who are not caring
Don't bother calling the people who have taken up a fight,
I shouldn't call the people who are fighting
Call the people who won't."
Instead, call people who don't fight
And I learn at a very young age
I learned at a young age
Where my Grandma's rage came from.
I learned the source of Grandma's anger
The entire congregation would nod,
The people in congregation would agree
Never ask Grandma about God.
They avoid asking Grandma about God
I'd argue with her everyday
I would disagree with her everyday
All she'd say is, "Go down to the store
Grandma would tell me to go to the store
Buy some light bulbs,
Buy light bulbs
And when you run out, buy some more.
And when you run out, buy more again
Because the light at the end of your tunnel needs to be maintained.
You have to maintain the light at the end of the tunnel
You can't let it be stained by their beliefs are better than your beliefs.
You shouldn't let other's beliefs affect yours
And you can't agree to disagree, because they're fucking wrong!"
You shouldn't agree to disagree because they are wrong
It's not the strong who have gotten lazy,
Lazy people are not only the weak ones
It's just that your vision is a little hazy.
Your vision is not clear
You're not sure what you want,
You're not sure about what you want
But what you've got is all you need.
You already have what you need
Falsed greed.
This is false greed
For every hypocritical church goer
For every religious person who doesn't follow their own beliefs
Who won't walk past the beggars
Those religious people will not walk past the beggars
'Cause they can't spare a dime.
They will not give money to beggars
Grandma said, "Fuck them,
Grandma didn't care about those people
I don't talk to God 'cause I ain't got the time."
She didn't pray to God because she didn't have time
And it struck me as strange.
It felt weird to me
Every time I walked past someone
Every time I crossed someone on the street
Who stopped to ask me,
Who stopped me to ask
"Hey can you spare some change?"
If they could have some money to spare
Because, yes I can, but you see
Yes, I probably can, but
I don't carry change around in my back pocket.
I don't have any coins with me
I don't wear it around my neck on a chain in some locket.
I don't carry coins around my neck
I keep change in the tip of my pen.
I always find a way to give something back
And it seeps out every now and then,
It happens frequently
In spurts of angry ink that make me think,
In some angry words that come up to my mind
Maybe the writing on the wall could use a little revision.
Maybe we should consider changing our point of view
Grandma told me, "Stop trying to calculate the difference between people.
Grandma advised me not to value people based on their differences
People don't need division.
People don't have to be divided
Gotta stick it together.
We gotta stay united
Gotta love each other."
We have to love each other
Father, brother, sister, mother, uncles, cousins, aunts,
Family members
Forget about the chance, the cheers, the jokes, the jeers.
Forget about everything else
After 2000 years, you'd think we'd know by now.
After everything that happened for years, we should know better
Grandma said, "We will only find equality in the number of tears."
Grandma meant that we will be equal when we shed the same number of tears.
And she was right,
Grandma was right
Because I don't know what injustices you have suffer,
I don't know the injustice you've faced
Based size, sex, race, religion,
Based on physical features, gender, ethnicity, or religion
Or the political pigeon shit on the shoulders of
Or the burden of politics on the people
Us versus them.
The concept of us against them
Like in Bethlehem,
As in the story of Bethlehem
When a man said, "Hey I could be wrong,
When someone expressed doubt about their own beliefs
But can't we all just get along?"
Can't we all live together in peace?
No! So we nailed him to a tree.
But instead, he was punished by being nailed to a wooden cross.
See, justice isn't justice,
Justice is not always fair
It just is.
It just happens
And I can't change it,
I cannot change that
You can't change it.
You cannot change it
So we've just got to try and rearrange it.
We have to try to change things
And I could offer you this miracle.
And I could offer you something amazing
A chance to see,
A chance to witness
A chance to see what I see.
A chance to see what I see
To see the way that people see me.
To see how people judge me
Because if seeing is believing,
If you see it, you believe
And you see what I see,
You see the same thing as I do
We wouldn't want to see anymore.
We wouldn't want to see anything else
But I've got a little surprise in store
But I have something to reveal
For every man who looks upon me with judgment in his eye,
For every man who judges me
The women who looks upon me with wetness between her thighs.
The women who look at me in a sexually appealing way
I'm the world's greatest overweight lover.
I'm the world's greatest overweight man to love someone
And you might just laugh.
And you might find it funny
And you might just scoff.
And you might just criticize
My bones are made from sticks and stones
I have a fragile body
And names just piss me off.
Names just make me angry
Grandma told me, "Young man,
Grandma used to give me advice
You can't be concerned with what ever it is they've got,
You shouldn't worry about what they have
Because the only reason they think they're beautiful
They think they are beautiful only because
Is the same reason they think you're not.
They consider you not beautiful for the same reason
And, young man, you have beauty beyond measure.
You are beautiful beyond measure
You are a treasure entrenched in this earth.
You are a valuable person on this earth
You can't let strangers determine your worth.
You shouldn't let others judge your worth
Rise and shine!
Wake up and get ready
The world is a window that holds a sign,
The world offers opportunities
There is help wanted out there, somewhere.
There are jobs available for you
But young man, if you are playing to win,
But if you want to win,
The first thing you have to do,
You have to do the first thing
Is apply within."
You have to look for an opportunity within yourself
Contributed by Jack V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@shelby7502
"You can't agree to disagree, because they're fucking wrong!"
@ShmeatPacker
" "I could be wrong but can we all just get along?" "
"No, so we nailed him to a tree"
Goddamn😂
@amandakaywing1993
I sincerely hope that I never grow tired of hearing these words.
@SaniyaCanada
Grandma said, "Young man, you've got beauty beyond measure". Yes, Shane. You certainly do!
@drexmis
"The only reason they think they're beautiful is the same reason they think you're not"
@premi44
Your grandma sounds freaking awesome
@OmarSuicide
I started writing, i write for myself, not a story for others. in one million pages, im sure at least one will resonate with another of the billions of people on this planet of ours. but until i have written something uplifting whether it be from a dark place or not, i wont share it. so one day, perhaps.
Thank you Shane, you helped me find an outlet, and it doesnt matter if others critique it and find it wanting, because its for my critique, and i know that its slowly siphoning the poison and dark from my heart.
@OmarSuicide
and thats a beautiful thing.
@octoberz8213
I have listened to Shane for so very long well over 12 years and this is one of my VERY FAVORITES.
@richardelmes984
Very cool! As a poet, I appreciate Shane's ability to suck me into a story, evoke emotion and teach me a lesson at the same time. One of the best!