[verse]
I stayed late at work that night so I went to a restaurant
All the tables were occupied, but a stranger waved to me
He invited me to share his table, he was kind and gallant
I accepted the invitation, soon the talk would flow free

He called me by my name; I was confused; I hadn't told him
He calmly said "Son, I knew you before you were even born
Let me introduce myself", he said with a sinister grin
"I am the Reaper. The Death. The one that comes and doesn't warn"

Shivers ran down my spine. But then he said "Stay calm, son, don't fear
No need to be afraid. I didn't come for you. Not tonight
I know that you write songs. And I knew that you would be right here
That's why we met now. It's about a song I want you to write"

I calmed down and listened with attention to all that he said
His message was clear, simple, strong and true in any tongue
Every phrase, every single word he said got stuck in my head
Later at home I wrote them down on paper to write this song

[chorus]
'Twas the night that I met The Reaper
When he appeared in the shape of a man
Made me think about my life much deeper
And my life has changed completely since then

Then he told me to tell the story
And spread his warning along the way
Keep this in mind: "Memento Mori"
But don't forget to live and love each day

[verse]
Look how cute that group is at that table, the one near those plants
A nice family: father, mother, a girl and two little boys
But there was no conversation. Everyone was in a trance
Looking at their own phone screens in silence, without any noise

They will never know how much they're loved. That's one thing they never say
Those kids have never heard "I love you" yet, and they never will
One of them won't come home tonight. And not any other day
A drunk driver breaks that family and leaves a void to fill

Then he pointed to a couple at a table next to us
"See those young ones over there? They were in love since teenage years
But they never showed their feelings, now he's leaving on a bus
And they will never meet again #2014; consumed by their foolish fears

If at least one of them had had the courage to break the wall
And confess what they feel, everything would be different from this
Now it's too late, they had a thousand chances and lost them all
They will never touch each other's lips and have a single kiss

[chorus]
'Twas the night that I met The Reaper
When he appeared in the shape of a man
Made me think about my life much deeper
And my life has changed completely since then

Then he told me to tell the story
And spread his warning along the way
Keep this in mind: "Memento Mori"
But don't forget to live and love each day

[verse]
See that lady drinking alone? She's clearly not doing well
Injustice broke her spirit, that's how her life began to sink
She lost friends, her job, her family; everything that she built fell
So she tries to escape from the truth and surrenders to the drink

But this night will be the worst, she's gonna make her biggest fault
She'll leave here and start the car; it will happen two blocks from here
A family crossing the street - crash, bodies left on the asphalt
One of the kids won't celebrate either Christmas or New Year

Now look at that young man and his father sitting near the door
The lad wants to open his heart and tell who he really is
But the old man doesn't stop talking and ranting more and more
About the weather, politicians, soccer and things like these

He doesn't let his son speak, like every other day before
Tomorrow morning an unexpected letter will arrive
Calling the lad to duty, for another pointless war
In the end he won't come back home. Well, he will, but not alive

[chorus]
'Twas the night that I met The Reaper
When he appeared in the shape of a man
Made me think about my life much deeper
And my life has changed completely since then

Then he told me to tell the story
And spread his warning along the way
Keep this in mind: "Memento Mori"
But don't forget to live and love each day

[verse]
Then I asked the man: "Don't you think that it is very unfair?"
He said: "My friend, I just do my job, I don't make the rules
There is free will, well, at least a little bit, so be aware
It is not my fault when people use it badly and act like fools"

"Life is made of choices that you make every day, every time
Even when you're not aware or when you choose not to decide
Every word that you have spoken, every good deed, every crime
Guess that's all I had to say. We will meet on the other side"

Then I got scared by the sound of a car crashing down the road
I looked for that family and the lady; they were not there
I would ask the Reaper if that crash was the one he foretold
But he wasn't there anymore. He disappeared in the air

I asked the waiter if he knew where my table mate had gone
He looked confused, so I asked again about the other guy
The waiter told me "Sir, since you arrived, you were there alone"
I don't know if it was madness or a vision from on high

[chorus]
'Twas the night that I met The Reaper
When he appeared in the shape of a man
Made me think about my life much deeper
And my life has changed completely since then

Then he told me to tell the story
And spread his warning along the way
Keep this in mind: "Memento Mori"
But don't forget to live and love each day