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 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

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 wasted love

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

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

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