THE OLD FLAGMAN
(Train whistle)
All: The old flagman has great-grandchildren.
Ruddy as a hard nut, hair in his ears, clear sea
lights in his
eyes,
(Train whistle)
He goes out of his shanty and lifts a sign: Stop.
Solo: “Y’ see where the sign is dented?
I hit a fellah over the head with it,
The only way to stop him gettin’ run over.
They want to get killed; I have to stop ‘em.
All: He was twenty years a policeman in
Solo: “I carry a bullet in my guts an I
got an abscess in
my gall
bladder—
I picked this shanty for a rest.
I go slow and careful; I got a leak in the heart; if
I laugh too hard my heart stops—and I fall down;
I have to watch myself.”
All: A third rail car hoots up the line.
He goes out with a warning in his hand: Stop.
Solo: “These damn fools, they want to get under the wheels.
I have to stop ‘em.”
All: Ruddy as a hard nut, hair in his ears, clear sea
lights in his
eyes.