After Life
Dan Bull Lyrics

When you're old and run down, what happens when you die?
What happens to your physical remains and not your soul when you die?

Not your soul but the dust and the ashes and the like
Only your physical remains like dust and ashes are left after death, not your soul.

After that time you've passed on and they're scattered and they lie
After death, the physical remains are scattered and left lying down.

Under the grass in a casket for time
The physical remains are placed under the grass in a casket for some time.

Until the last of your atoms has gone back to the matter
The physical remains decompose until the atoms have returned to the matter from which the planet was formed.

That it had been a part of when the planet was gas dust
The matter from which the planet was formed was originally gas and dust.

At the instant you're officially a corpse
The moment your physical remains are officially considered a corpse.

This list of sick things begins kicking in with force
A list of unpleasant physical changes begins occurring.

The temperature of your body's inner core falls
The temperature of the core of the physical remains decreases.

And this event is called algor mortis
This decrease in temperature is referred to as algor mortis.

It's thought this happens cos your pulse has flattened
This decrease in temperature is believed to happen because the pulse has stopped.

So it halts the passage of the warmth and that
The cessation of the pulse stops the flow of warmth in the body.

But if you thought that that was a nauseous fact
If you thought the above was unpleasant, there are more unpleasant changes to come.

Then I ought to inform you what also happens
The singer then describes more unpleasant changes.

The muscles in your ass pack up and relax
The muscles in the body relax and cause the bowels to empty.

So that all of that crap just stacks up in your pants
As a result, fecal matter piles up in the pants.

Your blood runs back under the gravitational pull
Blood in the body flows back due to gravity after death.

Then thickens and begins to coagulate plus
The blood thickens and begins to form clots.

Skin pallid, limbs all stiff
The skin becomes pale and the body becomes stiff.

This is called rigor mortis
This stiffening of the body is called rigor mortis.

After twenty-four hours or so
After a day, more changes occur in the body.

You actually eventually swell up and bloat
The body eventually swells and bloats.

The gases inside you can't come out so they only
Gases inside the body cannot escape and continue to accumulate.

Keep amassing 'til you're either really fat or explode
The gases accumulate until the body is either bloated or bursts open.

But don't laugh, cos I mean it, that isn't a joke
Despite the absurdity of this situation, the singer emphasizes that it is serious and not a laughing matter.

It'll happen to the Queen and the average bloke
This is a natural process that happens to everyone, regardless of their status.

Bacteria starts devouring both
Bacteria begins to consume both flesh and fat from the body.

Flesh and fat from your anatomy, out of your clothes
This process occurs even beneath your clothes.

Then it's down to the crows to come down and carry on
Subsequently, crows and other scavengers feed on the remaining flesh and fat.

Lunch out on carrion down to the bone
These birds feed on the decaying flesh until only the bones remain.

Now you should know that even bones decompose
Even bone matter decomposes over time.

If you leave them over an aeon or so
This will happen if the bones are left for an extremely long period of time.

There will be no trace of your dead corpse
Eventually, there will be no evidence that a body was ever there.

You'll be feeding potatoes and absorbed
The nutrients from your physical remains will be absorbed by potatoes and other plants.

Dug up and eaten off a plate with salad raw
These plants may be eaten by people as part of a meal.

I'm sorry to say I'm afraid that's the law
These are the laws of nature and cannot be changed.

Actions have reactions so it has to stop
Everything has a natural cycle and eventually comes to an end.

Every man since Adam's travelled back to the cosmos
Every person's physical remains eventually return to the universe from which they came.

Rock to iron to steel and back to rust
The matter from which we are formed changes over time and eventually rusts, returning to the earth.

Ash to ash and dust to dust
All life returns to the earth in the form of ash and dust.

When you die
Repeated refrain that emphasizes the inevitability of death.

Don't even bother thinking about floating to heaven
The singer emphasizes that death is an end to physical existence and there is no afterlife.

You won't burn in hell but you might roast in an oven
Rather than eternal punishment or reward, physical remains may be incinerated or cremated after death.

Don't even bother thinking of eternal paradise
The artist encourages the listener to focus on the present life rather than an imagined afterlife.

You'll just be fertilising grass in this so-called afterlife
Death is simply part of the natural cycle of life, and the physical remains contribute to the growth of new life in the form of grass and other plants.