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 an 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 had 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 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 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
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 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
