The Caretaker

(album: Songs Of Our Soil - 1959)

I live in the cemetery
'Old Caretaker' they call me
In the wintertime I rake the leaves
And in the summer I cut the weeds

When a funeral comes
The people cry and pray
They bury their dead
Then they all go away

And here I work
And I somehow hide
From a world that rushes
By outside

But each night
When I rest my head
I'm contented
As the peaceful death

But who's gonna cry
When old John dies?
Who's gonna cry
When old John dies?

Once I was a young man
Dashing with the girls
Now no one wants an old man
When I lost my handsome curls

But I wanna say
When my time comes
Lay me facing
The rising sun

Put me in a corner
Where I buried my pup
Tell the preacher to pray
Then cover me up

Don't lay flowers
Where my head should be
Maybe God would
Let some grow for me

And all the little children
That I love like my own
Will they be sorry
That Old John's gone?

Who's gonna cry
When Old John dies?
Who's gonna cry
When Old John dies?