when i was three they said of me "he'll never learn to talk"
when i was five and still alive they taught me how to walk
when i was six and played with sticks they took me off to mass
when i was nine i got behind and they spanked me on the ...
backside of life and all was quiet and everything was fine
but all they said and all they did told me nothing i had was mine
and i walked away each day after day but they always brought me back
until later at night when i hid with delight and i slept in an old blue sack
'neath the stairs on the left where they stomped with such heft and the nails in the boards there did creak
but i stayed quite well hid and much later what i did left me feeling a tiny bit weak
so i made them all pay for the things they would say and the way they was treating me bad
but too far did i go when the fire all aglow brought the house to the ground, twas too sad
so i ran far away, on the sea did i stay sailing ships to and fro round the globe
but i'm thin and i'm gray at the end of the day and my season is over, i'm old