Dm              G
Yesterday when I was young 
                      C                     F
the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue
                    Dm                    E
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game
    E7             Am
the way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame 

[Verse]
                      Dm                             G
The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned 
               C                         F
I always built alas on weak and shifting sand
                     Dm                            E               
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of the day 
   E7          Am
and only now I see how the years ran away 

[Chorus]
     Dm              G                 
Yesterday when I was young 
                 C                        F
so many drinking songs were waiting to be sung, 
                   Dm                      E
so many wayward pleasures lay in store for me 
   E7               Am
and so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see 

[Verse]
                   Dm                         G
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out 
                   C                       F
I never stopped to think what life was all about 
                Dm               E
and every conversation I can now recall 
  E7                 Am         
concerned itself with me and nothing else at all 

[Chorus]
     Dm                G
Yesterday the moon was blue 
                C                            F
and every crazy day brought something new to do 
               Dm                   E
I used my magic age as if it were a wand 
  E7              Am
and never saw the waste and emptiness beyond 

                   Dm                        G
The game of love I played with arrogance and pride 
                  C                       F
and every flame I lit too quickly quickly died
                       Dm                      E
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away 
  E7              Am
and only I am left on stage to end the play

                 Dm                         G
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung 
                  C                      F
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue 
                     Dm                 E     E7         Am              
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young