[Verse 1]
Gm C
Yesterday when I was young
F Bb
The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue
Gm A
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game
Dm
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame.
[Verse 2]
Gm C
The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned
F Bb
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand
Gm A
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day
Dm
And only now I see how the years ran away
[Chorus]
Bb C
Yesterday, when I was young
F Bb
So many drinking songs were waiting to be sung
Gm A
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
Dm
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see
Bb C
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out
F Bb
I never stopped to think what life was all about
Gm A
And every conversation I can now recall
Dm
Concerned itself with me, me and nothing else at all.
[Verse 3]
Gm C
Yesterday the moon was blue
F Bb
And every crazy day brought something new to do
Gm A
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
Dm
And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond.
[Verse 4]
Dm Gm C
The game of love I played with arrogance and pride
F Bb
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died.
Gm A
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away
Dm
And only I am left on stage to end the play.
[Outro]
Bb C
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung
F Bb
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue
Gm A
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday
Dm
When I was...young
A
Young
Dm
