A lifetime comes and goes

And as my friend the rose said only yesterday

"This morning I was born

And baptised in the dawn

I flowered in the dew

And life was fresh and new

The sun shone through the cold

And through the day I grew

By night-time I was old"

"At least there's never been

No, you have never seen

A rose more bright and gay"

A lifetime comes and goes

And as my friend the rose said only yesterday

"The good lord smiled on me

So why then should it be

I feel I'm falling now

Oh yes, I'm falling now

My heart no-one can save

My head begins to bow

My feet are in the grave"

The rose God smiled upon

Tomorrow will be gone

Forever gone away

A lifetime comes and goes

And so my friend the rose was dead at break of day

The moon is shining bright

And in my dreams tonight

Beneath the starlit sky

My friend the rose goes by

He has seen my dreams I see

A soul that wouldn't die

Still watching over me

Whatever fortune brings

I'll hope for better things

Or life will just be grey

"A lifetime comes and goes"

That's what my friend the rose

Said only yesterday