A              E        D                       A
    I live in the cemetery, ol' caretaker they call me,
            A            E                          D                A
    in the wintertime I rake the leaves and in the summer I cut the weeds.
            D                       A
    When a funeral comes the people cry and pray,
          E                         A
    they bury their dead, then they all go away,
         D                 A
    and here I work and I somehow hide
            E                A
    from a world that rushes by outside.
         D                 A
    But each night when I rest my head,
            E             D         A
    I'm contented as the peaceful death.

         A
    But who's gonna cry when old John dies,
     E                   D         A
    who's gonna cry when old John dies ?

    A             E         D               A
    Once I was a young man dashing with the girls,
        A               E           D                A
    now no one wants an old man, I lost my handsome curls.
        D                A
    But I wanna say when my time comes,
E                      A
    lay me facing the rising sun,
     D                            A
    put me in the corner where I buried my pup,
                E                   A
    tell the preacher to pray then cover me up.

     D                            A
    Don't plant flowers where my head should be,
     E                         A
    maybe God would let some grow for me.
        D                               A
    And all the little children that I love like my own,
           E                 D          A
    will they be sorry that old John's gone ?

      A
    Who's gonna cry when old John dies,
     E                   D         A
    who's gonna cry when old John dies ?