Capo 1st fret
Standard (EADGBE)
Verse
I live in the cemetery
Oh Caretaker they call me
In the winter time I rake the leaves
And in the summer I cut the weeds
When a funeral comes the people cry and pray
They bury their dead then they all go away
But thru their grief I still can see
Their hate and greed and jealousy
So here I work and I somehow hide
From a world that rushes by outside
And each night when I rest my head
I'm contented as the peaceful dead
Chorus
But who's gonna cry when old John dies
Who's gonna cry when old John dies
Verse
Once I was a young man
Dashing with the girls
Now no one wants an old man
I lost my handsome curls
But I wanna say when my time comes
Lay me facing the rising sun
Put me in a corner where I buried my pop
Tell the preacher to pray and cover me up
Don't lay flowers where my head should be
Maybe God will let some grow from me
And all the little childern that I loved like my own
Will they be sorry that old John's gone
Chorus
Who's gonna cry when old John dies
Who's gonna cry when old John dies