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 
Plays with a candle flame. 

The thousand dreams I dreamed, 
The splendid things I planned 
I always built to last
On weak and shifting sands 
I lived by night 
Declined the naked light of the day 
And only now I see 
How the years ran away. 

Yesterday when I was young 
So many crazy songs 
Were waiting to be sung, 
So many crazy times
That lay in store for me 
And so much pain inside
My heart 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 
That I can now recall 
Has all to do 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 games of love I played 
With arrogance and pride 
and every flame I lit 
So 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.