yesterday when i was young

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 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. 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. 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