Ah, the agony and the pain
Of the lonely second row
Allowed nothing but a few
Background notes so low

The first row loves to taunt and tease
The third row merely sighs
And thus we fail to move up
How hard that we may try

The octaves merely scare us
The high notes are unknown
Ah, the agony and the pain
Of the lonely second row

And when the band's out marching
We are often left behind
The first row snickers and forgets
About our part of the line

The crowd grins as the first ones
Go on brilliantly at shows
Ah, the agony and the pain
Of the lonely second row

And so we study, so we play
Hoping to get better
But as we fail and as they laugh
Our faces just get redder

Maybe this year we'll be first
It's possible - who knows?
Ah, the agony and the pain
Of the lonely second row