Stranger

When I was a child, my mother

Would tuck me into bed

And each night as she kissed me

These are the words that she said

She said, "Don't go to bed with strangers

Don't play with the dead

Always keep your wits sharp

Like the axe inside the shed"

Yay diri-diri-day diri-diri-day

Yay diri-diri-day day da-day

Yiri day-day-day yiri-di day-day-day

Day-day day-day day-day

When I was just a schoolboy

My father, he spoke unto me

He said, "Boychik, my son

Don't trust anyone

And remember that nothing is free

And the world is full of strangers

The world is full of dread

The world is full of sharpened wits

And millions of tears you will shed"

Yay diri-diri-day diri-diri-day

Yay diri-diri-day day da-day

Yiri day-day-day yiri-di day-day-day

Day-day day-day day-day

Well, when I was a young man

My professor at university

Said, "Advice is corrupting

Don't ever be trusting

Don't show your emotion

Human suffering is an ocean

And it's dark at the bottom of the sea

And there's no such thing as a stranger

They're all equally backwards and wrong

Sharpen axes, not wits

Bones are broken by sticks

And you never be free till you're strong"

Yay diri-diri-day diri-diri-day

Yay diri-diri-day day da-day

Yiri day-day-day yiri-di day-day-day

Day-day day-day day-day

Well, young men grow older

And the world, it gets colder

Though it never was warm to begin

Don't let down your guard

For the reaper works hard

And he will not take pause till you're dead

Now I'm old and I'm rusty

My troubles like sand on a beach

They can't be calculated

I always have waited

For something just out of reach

And I to myself am a stranger

My heart is an island of lead

My world is resounding

With miseries unbounding

There's only one thing to be said:

I'll say hay diri-diri-day diri-diri-day

Yay diri-diri day da-day

Yiri day-day-day yiri-di day-day-day

Day-day day-day day-day