How oft times we meet while walkin' down the street
A poor old man who's getting old and gray
In his pocket's not a cent and his back with ages bent
And his shelter he has no place to stay
His relations by the score they bar him from the door
Then meet him on the street, they pass him by
Wnen you ask them why they do, they turn and say to you
He's old, he's gray, he's only in the way
So let us cheer them on for he won't be with us long
Don't quarrel with them because they're old and gray
For remember when you're young, old age to you will come
You'll be old and gray and only in the way
Now there was a time I hear when youth was not so clear
But since that time there's been an awful change
Young men with strenght and life to their parents they gave strife
If it happens every day it's not so strange
In shackles they did toil, their children they did spoil
And sure for death oft' times they do pray
He and his faithful wife have been struggling all their life
To find they're old and only in the way
* Refrain