What Good Am I?

The words

The singer asks himself whether he is worth anything if he turns away from others' suffering.

Speaking to himself, the singer asks a string of hard questions about his own conduct. Would he be worth anything if he looked away from people in need, kept silent when he should speak, or shut himself off from the pain around him? Each verse adds another test of conscience, and none is answered outright, so the listener is left to weigh them too. It is one of the quietest songs on Oh Mercy, sung softly over a hushed, sparse backing.