^Zo^mb^{ies Rob}bⁱn_{g t}h_e ^Grave

Reprinted from Songworm 1
This parody was sung by Leslie Fish on Tapeworm 3

Parody of “Bridge-Guard in the Karroo”, words by Rudyard Kipling , music by Leslie Fish

For more information and other parodies, see www.songworm.com
Parody lyrics ©1988-02-17 by Bob Kanefsky. All rights reserved. The copyright of the original lyrics and music remain with the holder(s) of the original copyright.

Am Oft

en the

G time

line’s

Am stream

ing

Will

F yield

to our

G search

ing

C E tools

,

And the

Am anc

ient

G wrecks

lie

Am gleam

ing,

Dis

F play

ed like un

G num

bered

Am jew

els.

F Mo

ments of

G slau

ghter and

Am per

il,

F Ripe

for the

G tak

ing at

D last

.

The

Am hope

of a

G race

gone

Am ster

ile

Are the

F dead

of its

C long

-dead

Am past

.

The passenger plane soars dawn-ward.
The time tank reveals her fate.
And as destiny urges her onward,
Our team is called to the Gate.

Trapped, no way to repel us,
Full of the life we crave.
Destined to die, they tell us.
Zombies robbing the grave.

We grasp at this last solution,
These desperate raids on the past,
From a future choked with pollution,
On a world that’s dying fast.

We victims of nuclear winters,
Of plagues and of poisoned air,
Must cling to a world in splinters,
Left too long under human care.

Apathy tends to seduce us
As disease rots our flesh and hair,
And three decades of life reduce us
To a talking head in a chair.

But we spend our youths in training
As stewardesses, actors, and thugs.
And we work for the years remaining,
Bandaged, and buoyed by the drugs.

So the Big Computer wakes us, 
And the go-juice enters a vein.
And we rush to the Gate that takes us 
To that ill-fated eastbound plane.

Cynical, tough, and zealous.
Loyal, unselfish, and brave.
Saviors of Earth, they tell us.
Zombies robbing the grave.

Quick, ere the gift escape us,
Back through the ages we reach,
With a false shell of skin to shape us,
And a mouthful of human speech.

And the monstrous mutant rejoices
As the drugs allow again
Bearing, bodies, and voices
Of healthy women and men.

So we return with our prizes,
As on to disaster she drones.
And the comfortless sun arises,
And the chill re-enters our bones.

More than a little jealous
Of the pitiful lives we save.
Bound for the stars, they tell us.
Zombies robbing the grave.