Your two hundred birthdays make you old if not senile
And we see the symptoms there in your rigor mortis smile
With your old folks eating dog food and your children eating paint
While the pirates own the flag and sell us sermons on restraint." - Meaning and context.">
There Only Was One Choice
“

Step right up young lady
Your two hundred birthdays make you old if not senile
And we see the symptoms there in your rigor mortis smile
With your old folks eating dog food and your children eating paint
While the pirates own the flag and sell us sermons on restraint.

— Harry Chapin

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Step right up young lady
Your two hundred birthdays make you old if not senile
And we see the symptoms there in your rigor mortis smile
With your old folks eating dog food and your children eating paint
While the pirates own the flag and sell us sermons on restraint." in the context of "There Only Was One Choice" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Harry Chapin" (Song lyrics, Dance Band on the Titanic (1977)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Harry Chapin

About Harry Chapin

Harold Forster Chapin (7 December 1942 – 16 July 1981) was an American singer, songwriter, and social activist.