Yesterday when I was young  

 F/                         G/                                        C/                             F/
Yesterday when I was young     the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue
                    Dm/                         E/                                      C/                                Am/         
I teased at life as if, it were a foolish game  the way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame
                      
                                 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
                 C/                             Am/
 and only now I see how the years ran away

*     Dm/                        G/                                 C/                               F/              
Yesterday when I was young    so many lovely songs were waiting to be sung,
                         Dm/                               E/                                     C/                           Am/
so many wayward pleasures lay in store for me    and so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see
                  
Dm/                               G/                                      C/                       F/
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out,  I never stopped to think what life was all about
                  Dm/                          E/                              C/                                 Am/   
and every conversation I can now recall,  concerned itself with me and nothing else at all

     Dm/                           G/                                     C/                               F/
Yesterday the moon was blue     and every crazy day brought something new to do
                      Dm/                        E/                                C/                             Am/
I used my magic age as if it were a wand   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
                 C/                        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/                      C/                Am/             
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young