life is a short warm moment
and death is a long cold rest
you get your chance to try 
in the twinkling of an eye
eighty years with luck or even less

so all aboard for the american tour
and maybe you'll make it to the top
but mind how you go
and I can tell you 'cos I know
you may find it hard to get off

you are the angel of death 
and I'm the dead man's son
he was buried like a mole in a fox hole
and everyone's still on the run
and who is the master of fox hounds
and who says the hunt has begun
and who calls the tune in the courtroom
and who beats the funeral drum

the memories of a man in his old age
are the deeds of a man in his prime
you shuffle in gloom in the sick room
and talk to yourself as you die