Yesterday when I was young
The taste of life was sweet
As rain upon my tongue.
I teased at life as if
It were a foolish game,
The way the evening breeze
May tease a candle flame.
The thousand dreams I dreamed,
The splendid things I planned
I always built to last on
Weak and shifting sand.
I lived by night and shunned
The naked light of the day
And only now I see how
The years ran away.
Yesterday when I was young
So many happy songs were
Waiting to be sung,
So many wild pleasures
Lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled
Eyes refused to see.
I ran so fast that time
And youth at last ran out,
I never stopped to think
What life was all about
And every conversation I can now recall
Concerns itself with me
And nothing at all
Yesterday the moon was blue
And every crazy day brought
Something new to do.
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
And never saw the waste
And emptiness beyond.
The game of love I played
With arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit too
Quickly, quickly died.
The friends I made all
Seemed somehow to drift away
And only I am left on
Stage to end the play.
There are so many songs
In me that won't be sung,
I feel the bitter taste
Of tears upon my tongue.
The time has come for me to pay for
Yesterday when I was young
