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 drinking 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