My Hero, Zero

Zero? Yeah, zero is a wonderful thing. In fact, Zero is my hero! How can zero be a hero? Well, there are all kinds of heroes, you know A man can get to be a hero for a famous battle he fought Or by studying very hard and becoming a weightless astronaut And then there are heroes of other sorts Like the heroes we know from watching sports But a hero doesn't have to be a grown up person, you know A hero can be a very big dog who comes to your rescue Or a very little boy who's smart enough to know what to do But let me tell you about my favorite hero My hero, Zero, such a funny little hero But 'til you came along, we counted on our fingers and toes Now, you're here to stay, and nobody really knows How wonderful you are, why we could never reach a star Without you, Zero, my hero, how wonderful you are What's so wonderful about a zero? It's nothing, isn't it? Sure, it represents nothing alone But place a zero after one, and you've got yourself a ten See how important that is? When you run out of digits, you can start all over again See how convenient that is? That's why with only ten digits including zero You can count as high as you could ever go Forever, towards infinity No one ever gets there, but you could try With ten billion zeros, from the cavemen until the heroes Who invented you, they counted on their fingers and toes And maybe some sticks and stones (or rocks and bones) And their neighbors' toes You're here, and nobody really knows How wonderful you are, why we could never reach the star Without you, Zero, my hero, Zero, how wonderful you are Place one zero after any number And you've multiplied that number by ten See how easy that is? Place two zeros after any number And you've multiplied that number by one hundred See how simple that is? Place three zeros after any number And you've multiplied that number by one thousand Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad astra, forever and ever With Zero, my hero, how wonderful you are