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 alas
On weak and shifting sand
I lived by night
And shunned the naked
Light of 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 wayward pleasures
Lay in store for me
And so much pain
My 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
Concerned itself with me
And nothing else 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
