The Old Man
by Pearls Before Swine
From the album: The Use of Ashes
Track 8 of 10 on The Use of Ashes (1970).
Duration: 3:16
Lyrics for The Old Man
The old man sat on the corner He had a magic ring And when the day was on fire He called up serpents and things With his magic ring The serpents flew to the mountain Changed into butterfly trees Took the jewels from the morning dew Took the stars from the sky Put them all together And made a chain around the world Of eyes Around the world Of eyes The road it changed to incense stones All burning in the day When the stones caught fire The children couldn't stay away They couldn't stay away The old man's name was Winters He stopped the children at their play They felt the cold coming And they put their toys away They put their toys away The old man stole all the magic in the street Walked on down the road Walked on by where the children had been They never were children again Never were children again