For years I've been ready to let go of this life -
My friends, my wife already gone
I was an old man then, now I'm senior to the octogenarians

I was born in the year 1899, each July I'm one year ahead
From Ipswich to Oberlin, Salisbury, Rome,
The people I loved have all gone

"Just remember we love you," they say by my bed
"We're here and we're holding your hands
Just remember we love you, and this will always be
You're going to join Nonna, our mother,
You're beloved, Josephine Jewel"

I loved her in Manhattan I loved her in Rome
I took her to Maine by the sea
I whistled and painted, and walked with her there
And she sang the high parts for me

So take this weight off my chest
Take this ache from my heart
Take this breath from my lungs
Let me slip away forever, let me be what we become

And they'll sing for me, the men from school,
A silver dollar tune
I'll fly over the villas of Florence and Brittany,
And graveyards with headstones for boys
Who died in the 2nd World War

My affairs are in order, my children are grandparents,
My work stands here and abroad -
From houses to rowboats, headstones to lithographs,
Libraries, watercolors and oils

Oh, there've been disapointments, but mostly I'm sure,
I wouldn't change a thing for this world
I open my arms My body will close
And I go into the dream - the dream that never ends