Harps and Angels, by Randy Newman

Lyrics

Hasn't anybody seen me lately


I'll tell you why


Hasn't anybody seen me lately

I'll tell you why


I caught something made me so sick


That I thought that I would die


And I almost did, too

First my knees begin to tremble

My heart begin to pound

First my knees begin to tremble

My heart begin to pound

It was arrhythmic and out of tune

I lost my equilibrium

And fell face down upon the ground

As I lay there on that cold pavement

A tear ran down my face


'Cause I thought I was dying

You boys know I'm not a religious man


But I sent a prayer out just in case


You never know


Lo and behold almost immediately


I had reason to believe my prayer had been heard in a very special place


'Cause I heard this sound

Ooooh

Yes

Ooooh

Yes, it was harps and angels


Harps and angels coming near


I was too sick to roll over and see them


But I could hear them singing ever so beautifully in my ear

Then the sound began to subside

And they sounded like background singers

And a voice come down from the heavens above


It was a voice full of anger from the Old Testament

And a voice full of love from the New One

And the street lit up like it was the middle of the day

And I lay there quiet and listened to what that voice had to say

He said, “You ain’t been a good man


You ain’t been a bad man


But you’ve been pretty bad


Lucky for you this ain’t your time


Someone very dear to me has made another clerical error


And we’re here on a bit of a wild goose chase


But I want to tell you a few things


That'll hold you in good stead when it is your time


So you better listen close


I'm only going to say this once

When they lay you on the table


Better keep your business clean


'Fore they lay you on the table


Better keep your business clean


Don't want no back stabbing, ass grabbing


You know exactly what I mean


Alright girls—we're outta here"

Ooooh

"Encore. Encore."

Ooooh

(He spoke French)

"Tres bien


Encore"

And off they went into the night

Almost immediately I felt better


And I come round to see you boys


'Cause you know we ain’t living right


And while it was fresh


I wanted to tell you what he told me

He said, "When they lay you on the table


Better keep your business clean


When they lay you on the table


Better keep your business clean


Else there won’t be no harps and angels coming for you


It'll be trombones, kettle drums, pitchforks, and tambourines"

Sing it like they did for me one time


Ooooh—yes


Ooooh—beautiful


Wish I spoke French

So actually the main thing about this story is for me


There really is an afterlife


And I hope to see all of you there

Let’s go get a drink

Listen to a sample of Harps and Angels