The Caretaker

Johnny Cash

Tom: A

    A                  E            D                                 A
    I live in the cemetery, ol' caretaker they call me,
                A                E                                        D                           A
    in the wintertime I rake the leaves and in the summer I cut the weeds.
                  D                                       A
    When a funeral comes the people cry and pray,
              E                                      A
    they bury their dead, then they all go away,
             D                         A
    and here I work and I somehow hide
                  E                        A
    from a world that rushes by outside.
            D                          A
    But each night when I rest my head,
                E                     D             A
    I'm contented as the peaceful death.

             A
    But who's gonna cry when old John dies,
       E                                D             A
    who's gonna cry when old John dies ?

     A                     E                D                       A
    Once I was a young man dashing with the girls,
            A                          E              D                            A
    now no one wants an old man, I lost my handsome curls.
          D                             A
    But I wanna say when my time comes,
E                               A
    lay me facing the rising sun,
      D                                           A
    put me in the corner where I buried my pup,
                    E                              A
    tell the preacher to pray then cover me up.

       D                                            A
    Don't plant flowers where my head should be,
       E                                          A
    maybe God would let some grow for me.
            D                                      A
    And all the little children that I love like my own,
             E                         D               A
    will they be sorry that old John's gone ?

         A
    Who's gonna cry when old John dies,
       E                                D             A
    who's gonna cry when old John dies ?