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The Four Quartets Lyrics
The key turns once and locks the door
You, you were here
I saw your signature
I saw the moving leaves
I saw the closing door
Now the priest has called (dressed in his robes)
With memory eternal over the telephone
But I'll have no condolences
Just the meaning of it all
When I was alive, thoughtful and nice
I tried to do what's right
When I was alive, not once but twice
I should have used a knife
I read "The Four Quartets," "The Dry Salvages"
Wrote the words upon my wrist
Wore the clothes upon my back
A life spent in pursuit of it
A life just spent
Now I am here on parade
I'm lying in state
The flags are all half-raised
Ave Maria plays
Oh, it's a fading song
I sing it on and on
You, you were here
I saw your signature
I saw the moving leaves
I saw the closing door
With memory eternal over the telephone
But I'll have no condolences
Just the meaning of it all
I tried to do what's right
When I was alive, not once but twice
I should have used a knife
Wrote the words upon my wrist
Wore the clothes upon my back
A life spent in pursuit of it
A life just spent
I'm lying in state
The flags are all half-raised
Ave Maria plays
Oh, it's a fading song
I sing it on and on
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The world is coming to an end, and you're stuck in a shitty hotel room in the middle of Missouri.
The song is full of references to T.S. Eliot, most notably "The Four Quartets" and "The Dry Salvages," but also "The Four Quartets." Lee Bozeman claims that the last stanza is a reference to the funeral of Pope John Paul II, but the lyric seems to have been written before John Paul II died.