A Life

The clock has metal hands
It throws the hours down
On the ground with a thud
The sound of blood
And if you do not forgive me
I do not know
What I will do
As the time goes by
As the time goes by

In the Spring when he was born
The soil was soft and good and warm
His father was a farmer
The son of the sun
Said: the Earth don't wait for a man but once
And if you do not believe me
I do not know
What I will do
And the time goes by
And the time goes by

When he was a boy the fields were full
The girls were soft and good and warm
The morning sun was shining
Like a promise in his eyes
And if you do not deceive me
I do not know
What I will do
And the time goes by
And the time goes by

When he was a man he worked with his hands
The ground was hard, but a place to stand
But when the Autumn came around
The oxen plowed the land to ridges in the ground
And the wrinkles in his face
Like the beaten road showed
In a man's body
Is where the time goes
And if you do not defeat me
I do not know
What I will do
And the time goes by
And the time goes by

He gave to the earth and it gave back
'Till he had nothing to give at last
The trembling of his marbled hands
Showed he knew
What the Earth demanded
As it waited for him
And the time goes by
And the time goes by

The clock has metal hands
It throws the hours down
On the ground with a thud
The sound of blood
And if you do not forgive me
I do not know
What I will do
As the time goes by
As the time goes by