Yesterd ay when I was y oung
The taste of love was s weet as rain upon my tongue;
I teased at life as if it were a foolish g ame
The way the evening breeze ma y tease a candle flame.
The thousand dreams I dr eamed the splendid things I pla nned--
I always built to l ast on weak and shifting sa nd;
I lived by night and s hunned the naked light of day
And o nly now I see how t he years ran away.
Yesterda y when I was yo ung
So many happy so ngs were waiting to be s ung
So many wayward p leasures lay in store for m e
And so muc h pain my da zzled eye s refused to see.
I ran so fast that t ime and youth at last ran ou t
I never stopped to th ink what life was all ab out;
And ev'ry convers ation I can now reca ll
Concerned it self with me a nd nothing else at all.
Yesterd ay the moon was bl ue
And ev'ry crazy d ay brought something new to do
I used my magic a ge as if it were a wa nd
And neve r saw th e waste a nd emptiness beyond.
The game of love I pl ayed with arrogance and pr ide
And ev'ry flame I lit too quickly quickly died;
The friends I made all se emed somehow to drift aw ay
And o nly I am left o n stage to end the play.
There are so many son gs in me that won't be su ng
I feel the bitter ta ste of tears upon my to ngue;
The time has come for me to pay for yesterda y
W (N.C.) hen I was yo ung.