Sixty To Zero [German translation]

All the champs and the heroes

They got a price to pay

They go from sixty to zero

In the split of a hair

They see the face in the window

They feel a shadow out there

They've got the places they can go

They've got the people who stare

They've got to walk in their shoes

They've got to see what they see

They've got the people around them

Getting too much for free

All the pimps and the dealers

All the food they can eat

All the screamers and squealers

When they walk down the street

Yeah.

He's just a rich old man

He never cared for anyone

He likes to count his possessions

He's been a miser from penny one

He never cared for his children

Never cared for his wife

Never made anyone happy

That's the way he lived his life

And one day in the sunshine

He got a bolt from the blue

Unloaded all of his possessions

Sold his investments too

And now he lives with the homeless

Owns 900 hospital beds

He prefers to remain nameless

It's publicity he dreads

Yeah.

There's a judge in the city

He goes to work every day

Spends his life in the courthouse

Keeps his perspective that way

But I respect his decision

He's got a lot on his mind

He's pretty good with the gavel

A little heavy on the fines

One day there was this minstrel

Who came to court on a charge

That he blew someone's head off

Because his amp was too large

And the song he was singin'

Was not for love but for cash

Well, the judge weighed the charges

He fingered his mustache

Yeah.

Well, there's a clown in a carnival

He rode a painted horse

He came from somewhere out west

He was very funny of course

But that is not what I noticed

It was the incredible force

With which he held his audience

While he rode on his horse

His jokes were not that off-color

His smile was not that sincere

His show was not that sensational

Reasons for success were not clear

But he still made big money

One day the circus was his

Now he's married to the acrobat

And they're training their kids

Yeah.

Now the jailhouse was empty

All the criminals were gone

The gate was left wide open

And a buck and fawn

Were eating grass in the courtyard

When the warden walked in

And took a rifle

from the prison guard

And said to him with a grin

To shoot those deer

would be stupid, sir

We already got 'em right here

Why not just

lock the gates and keep them

With intimidation and fear?

But the warden pulled the trigger

And those deer hit the ground

He said Nobody'll

know the difference

And they both looked around.

Yeah.

Well, the cop made the showdown

He was sure he was right

He had all of the lowdown

From the bank heist last night

His best friend was a robber

And his wife was a thief

All the children were murderers

They couldn't get no relief

The bungalow was surrounded

When a voice loud and clear

Come out with your hands up

Or we're gonna blow you out of here

There was a face in the window

TV cameras rolled

And they cut to the announcer

And the story was told.

Yeah.

Well, the artist

looked at the producer

The producer sat back

He said What we have got here

Is a pretty good track

But we don't have a vocal

And we still don't have a song

If we could

get this thing accomplished

Nothin' else could go wrong

So he balanced the ashtray

And he picked up the phone

And said Send me a songwriter

Who's drifted far from home

And make sure that he's hungry

And make sure he's alone

And send me a cheeseburger

And a new Rolling Stone

Yeah.

Well, the Sioux in Dakota

They lost all of their land

And now a basketball player

Is trying to lend them a hand

Maybe someday he'll be president

He's quite a popular man

But now the chief has reservations

And the white man has plans

There's opposition in Congress

The bill is up against cash

There's really no way of predicting

If it will fly or it will crash

But that's the nature of politics

That's the name of the game

That's how it looks in the tepee

Big winds are blowing again

Yeah.

There's still crime in the city

Said the cop on the beat

I don't know if I can stop it

I feel like meat on the street

They paint my car like a target

I take my orders from fools

Meanwhile

some kid blows my head off

Well, I play by their rules

So now I'm doing it my way

I took the law in my own hands

Here I am in the alleyway

A wad of cash in my pants

I get paid by a ten year old

He says he looks up to me

There's still crime in the city

But it's good to be free

Yeah.

Now I come from a family

That has a broken home

Sometimes I talk to my daddy

On the telephone

When he says that he loves me

I know that he does

But I wish I could see him

Wish I knew where he was

But that's

the way all my friends are

Except maybe one or two

Wish I could see him this weekend

Wish I could walk in his shoes

But now I'm doin' my own thing

Sometimes I'm good, then I'm bad

Although my home has been broken

It's the best home I ever had

Yeah.

Well, I keep getting younger

My life's been funny that way

Before I ever learned to talk

I forgot what to say

I sassed back to my mummy

I sassed back to my teacher

I got thrown out of Sunday School

For throwin' bibles at the preacher

Then I grew up to be a fireman

I put out every fire in town

Put out everything smoking

But when I put the hose down

The judge sent me to prison

Gave me life without parole

Wish I never put the hose down

Wish I never got old.

• Artist:Neil Young
• Album:Freedom (1989)