Everyone knows him as old folks Like the seasons he comes and he'll go Just as free as a bird and as good as his word That's why everybody loves him so Always leaving his spoon in his coffee Tucks his napkin up under his chin And his own corn cob pipe is so mellow, hits right But you needn't be ashamed of him In the evenings after supper What stories he tells How he held his speech at Gettysburg for Lincoln that day You know I know that one so well One thing we don't know about old folks Did he fight for the blue or the gray? But he's so democratic and so diplomatic We always let him have his way In the evenings after supper What stories he tells How he held his speech at Gettysburg for Lincoln that day Yes, I know that one so well Some day there will be no more old folks What a lonely old world this will be Children's voices at play will be still fonding The day they take old folks away