I live in the cemetery, ol' caretaker they call me In the wintertime 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 And here I work and I somehow hide from a world that rushes by outside But each night when I rest my head I'm contented as the peaceful death But who's gonna cry when old John dies, who's gonna cry when old John dies 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 where I buried my pup Tell the preacher to pray then cover me up Don't plant flowers where my head should be, maybe God would let some grow for me And all the little children that I love like my own, will they be sorry that old John's gone Who's gonna cry when old John dies, who's gonna cry when old John dies