[Verse 1]
Richard was a stout-hearted man, he’d been through the bulk of his life
He no longer spoke to most of his folks and was abandoned by his wife
Rolling down the road one night alone, he came upon a terrible sight
An older woman lay bleeding in the road and her screams about filled the night

[Chorus]
She said: Look backwards on your future and look forward to your past
Everything upon which you base your faith is made of vapour and it won’t last
It’s only everything in our shared reality that keeps our souls held fast
So, look backwards on your future and look forward to your past

[Verse 2]
Richard woke the next morning and spoke, he said, there’s something I feel I must do
He called up all of his natural born kids and all his money from the bank he withdrew
He changed his mind about everything he’d ever felt about what’s bad and good
He fixed a loud-speaker to the roof of his car and he sang to everyone he could

[Chorus]
He sang: Look backwards on your future and look forward to your past
Get your sense of time from the ancient Hawaiians, your sense of self from the hydrogen blast
You’ll be what came before, you were what is to come, he bellowed out to everyone he passed
So, look backwards on your future and look forward to your past

[Verse 3]
Richard got arrested in Laredo, he was causing too much mischief for the sisters
He spent an evening in the clink and then went home and turned to drinking – gave his all, yes, he was a double-fister
The issue was the kind of past he had behind him, most of what he’d spent were wasted days
The history he faced was an ocean made of empty and a destiny you wouldn’t want to save
[Chorus]
Still, I say: Look backwards on your future and look forward to your past
If you haven’t gone and made a mess of yourself you just might end up with the last laugh
Every little dot of presence and thought for another will give your life class
So, look backwards on your future and look forward to your past

[Coda]
This particular assemblage of molecules and memories some day soon may just soon run out of gas
So, look backwards on your future and look forward to your past