I met an old man on the floor of the barroom
He said, “Follow me I been here before.”
I put my trust and faith in that stranger
On hands and knees we crawled to the door
Outside the dark night was a cold as the flowers
That lie there abandoned on an unquiet grave
As me and that old man talked there for hours
This was the view of life that he gave
He said, “This short life is like sailing the ocean
You rock in the swell and you roll in the squall
Rising and falling on tides of emotion
Sometimes it’s hard to make sense of it all
The springtime of life is a time like no other
The world is a pearl in the palm of your hand
With the sea for your bed and the stars for your cover
All that you see is at your command
On the horizon the storm clouds are gathering
Old Father Time with his cold bloodless hand
Is leading the chorus of sweet siren voices
Calling you home to your death on the sand
And you know in your head that you don’t want to go there
But deep in your heart you know it’s your time
Your veins are as hard as the rocks that await you
On the tip of your tongue you can taste the salt wine.
Chorus:
Old age is a shipwreck old age is disaster
Old age is a body that lies in the bay
The dreams of adventure lie dead on the shoreline
Old age is a shipwreck that’s all you can say.
I left that old man to the cold of the evening
His words crashed like waves through the caves of my mind
They shout out a warning to all of you sailors
And light up the night like a bright neon sign
They say, “Make the most of the wind when it’s blowing
And filling you’re your sails far away from the land
Breathe deep on the good times when lifeblood is flowing
Don’t think of the time when you sleep on the sand.”
Chorus:
