Pearls Before Swine – The Old Man lyrics

The old man sat on the corner
He had a magic ring
And when the day was on fire
He called up serpents and things
With his magic ring

The serpents flew to the mountain
Changed into butterfly trees
Took the jewels from the morning dew
Took the stars from the sky
Put them all together
And made a chain around the world
Of eyes
Around the world
Of eyes

The road it changed to incense stones
All burning in the day
When the stones caught fire
The children couldn't stay away
They couldn't stay away

The old man's name was Winters
He stopped the children at their play
They felt the cold coming
And they put their toys away
They put their toys away

The old man stole all the magic in the street
Walked on down the road
Walked on by where the children had been
They never were children again
Never were children again