Mr. Richards

One fine day near the end of the tax year

Mr Richards was gripped by a new fear

Who would be at his retirement party

And though he still had years to go before he

Slipped over the edge of the workforce

The question remained and in his wake there came an army

What price creature comforts – what is this life really all about?

He drew a line between work and living, and work was winning out

And he worked for half his life, to spend the end just feeling tired out

That's when his roof caved in

And so he made a list of all the people he worked with

And cut it down to the ones he got on with

Paired each one off with the decade of his career

And then he thought of all his friends from back home

The crazies, the ladies, the lovers he'd known

And then he looked around his office and wondered why he was still here

What price creature comforts

What is this life really all about?

He drew a line between work and living, and work was winning out

And he worked for half his life, to spend the end just feeling tired out

That's when he realised that he scrimped and saved all his precious days

So he could buy icers and microwaves

And he only looks forward to his holidays

That's when his roof caved in

And it would be nice to have holiday homes

And healthy bank statements and fat little kids

And I guess you can be happy to dream all your dreams

As camcorder records of the things that you did

But as soon as your sleeping does it really matter

What mattress you happen to be sleeping on?

As long as your living and your having fun;

He always laughed at the drop-outs

That he could never live that way

But the truth is Mr Richards was a coward, he was afraid

Mr Richards decided on the very next morning

To make his life and work the same thing

Cleared he desk, he hit the road and he never retired