William Finn
You Gotta Die Sometime
[WHIZZER]
Okay—
When the doctor started using phrases like
"You'll pass away"
What could I say?
I said Doctor
In plain English
Tell me why was I chosen
Why me of all men?
Doctor, here's the good part
At least death means
I'll never be scared about dying again

Let's get on with living while we can
And not play dumb
Death's gonna come
When it does, screw the nerves
I'll be eating hors d'oeuvres
It's the roll of the dice and no crime
You gotta die sometime

Death is not a friend
But I hope in the end
He takes me in his arms and lets me hold his face
He holds me in his arms and whispers something funny
He lifts me in his arms and tells me to embrace
His attack
Then the scene turns to black
Life sucks
People always hate a loser
And they hate lame ducks
Screw me and shucks
That's it
That's the ball game
I don't smoke, don't do drugs
And then comes the bad news
I quit
That's the ball game
It's the chink in the armor
The shit in the karma
The blues

Can I keep my cool despite the urge
To fall apart?
How should I start?
I would cry if I could
But it does no damn good
To explain I'm a man in my prime
You gotta die sometime

Death's a funny pal
With a weird sort of talent
He puts his arms around my neck and walks me to the bed
He pins me up against the wall and kisses me like crazy
The many stupid things I thought about with dread
Now delight
Then the scene turns to white
Give me the balls to orchestrate a graceful leave
That's my reprieve
To go out
Without care
My head high in the air
It's the last little mountain I'll climb
I'll climb
You gotta die sometime
You gotta die sometime
You gotta die sometime
You gotta die sometime, sometime
Sometime, sometime
Sometime, sometime
Sometime, sometime