Soon after the boy was born,
to Carl and Franziska Nietzsche,
the parents planned his career:
he will become a preacher!

But he disliked the idea,
and eventually ran for cover,
deciding, ill-advisedly,
to be a wisdom lover.

His first book, The Birth of Tragedy,
didn�t end up well for Fritz.
It was completely rubbished
by Ulrich von Wilamowitz.

Nietzsche was quite pissed off,
at one point he even said �Shit!�
But fortunately his other book
soon became a great hit.

Also sprach Zarathustra
brought him enormous glory,
and even after hundred years
it�s still a success story.

Its most shocking announcement
is certainly the death of God,
the cause of his demise unknown.
Perhaps it�s the firing squad?

Then there�s eternal recurrence,
another bombastic claim.
Then there�s eternal recurrence,
another bombastic claim�

Philosophers bang their heads
about what he meant to say,
but the idea is really simple:
something like the Groundhog Day.

His earth-shattering concept
well known to every fan
is of course the notion
of �bermensch, or superman.

But watch out, you�re mistaken
about Nietzsche�s true intent
if you think he had in mind
somebody like�Clark Kent.

Another catchy idea
is no doubt the will to power;
if you don�t understand it
try reading some Schopenhauer.

Recalling Nietzsche�s face,
specially his mega moustache,
he did look as if he was heading
for a nasty mental crash.

He suffered from egomania
and delusion of grandeur,
although this may have been
just his desperate cri de coeur.

He thought his major works
had a huge audience to reach,
and should be translated in all languages
a million copies in each.

The crisis came to a head
with someone whipping a horse,
a behavior that Nietzsche
could in no way endorse.

He wept and hugged the animal
throwing himself around its neck.
After that event he never
played again with a full deck.

Then his sister Lizzie
took him in her care,
but meddled with his texts
changing bits, here and there.

For all Nietzsche�s admirers
this circumstance is pure bliss,
since any embarrassing passage
can now be blamed on sis!