How the years have gone It's come to this A rose on his lapel, in the open coffin I'd give him a kiss I have to go up north to play at his funeral And his wife is there In some chapel she's picked out And there's not even an organ I have to play on some broken upright piano Listen to these low notes What a joke And you have to park and you couldn't even hear the ceremony in the cemetery Because the noise from the traffic and construction is so terrible And I stood there in the slush And I walked along, very slowly To the tree by the turn And I went in front of my mother and father and sister and husband's graves And looked over to the sun setting to the right Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock
And I thought of myself And I thought of them In the cold hard ground You still can't believe You still can't believe I didn't believe it then And I don't believe it now I didn't believe it then And I don't believe it now I didn't believe it then and I don't believe it now But there it is Listen to this tune I'm playing for you now, kids Does it seem sad Does it remind you of when Shady grave Come the summer it will be Shady grave Come the summer it will be Well I can hear the cars just A hundred feet behind And I smell the rock salt in the air And I know in my bones it isn't fair And the sun sets in the sleet to the side