George the Poet - Talent Doesn't Die

I was never great in school
My grades were cool
But I couldn't understand whoever made the rules
Luckily I found other stimulation
That other simulation would become a simulation of the learning process
I'd start to write rhymes
And I'd find it fed my heart and my mind
This turned out to be an amazing move
I calmed down and my grades improved
You see essentially, I was still the same dude
But I'd finally got my fill of brain food
Ten years on this is my career path
I didn't know this would happen when I'd start to rhyme
You see unlike so much talent in the world
I was given a second chance to shine
What began as a way to pass the time
Presented opportunities to learn and grow
Now imagine a world in which the same opportunities
Awaited a soldier returning home
Imagine a young man that hasn't served for long
Coming back and feeling as though his worth has gone
After only working on two or three tours
His talent is still a renewable resource
So let's ask ourselves
What do we envision for the 17000 B&D commissioned?
Cause by definition, talent doesn't die
It simply gets wasted, lost in the system
But think how much this is costing the system
We can't afford to squander our talent, in fact
To maximise potential and its impact
We must perform a difficult balancing act
Making new use of existing wealth
Seeing that soldier as a gift himself
We could search the world for unknown knowledge
Only to find it's gathering dust on a shelf
See, talent is business's business
It's top of any business's wishlist for Christmas
This is the case in every industry
But we currently have a shortage of software engineers
Set to reach 200,000 in six years
You see, without talent, the end is near
What makes more sense than spending here?
Time and money for mutual benefit
That's an investment from which the future will benefit
Keeping our economies in consistent health
By making new use of existing wealth
Talent is business's business
It's top of every business's wishlist for Christmas
And as with any Christmas tree
The gifts beneath are a mystery
We have seventy million gifts to unwrap
Individuals, none of whom have the same ability
Not to mention the gifts of the Earth
Which we recycle for sustainability
See, this is a story about relationships
And I happen to like this story a lot
I also think of it as a story about the future
Making new use of what we've already got
See, I was never great in school
My grades were cool
But I couldn't understand whoever made the rules
The whole thing was so inflexible
I often felt like we were getting played for fools
But that experience is the reason I wrote this
Who would've known this would be a nice fit?
Talent doesn't die, it just goes unnoticed
But potential doesn't exist until you realise it
Potential doesn't exist until you realise it