YESTERDAY, WHEN I WAS YOUNG

Yes - ter - day___when I was young,
The taste of life was sweet as rain up-on my tongue,
I teased at life as if it were a fool-ish game, 
The way the eve-ning breeze may tease a can-dle flame;
The thou-sand dreams I dreamed, The splen-did tings I planned
I al-ways built, a-las, on weak and shift-ing sand;
I lived by night and shunned the nak-ed light of day
And on-ly now I see how the years ran a-way.

Yes - ter - day___when I was young,
So man-y drink-ing songs were wait-ing to be sung,
So man-y way-ward plea-sures lay in store for me
And so much pain my daz-zled eyes re-fused to see,
I ran so fast that time   and youth at last ran out,
I nev-er stopped to think what life was all a-bout
And ev-'ry con-ver-sa-tion I can now re-call
con-cerned it-self with me,  and noth-ing else at all.

Yes - ter - day___the moon was blue,
and ev-'ry cra-zy day brought some-thing new to do,
I used my mag-ic age as if it were a wand,
and nev-er saw the waste and emp-ti-ness beyond;
The game of love I played with ar-ro-gance and pride
and ev-'ry   flame  lit to quick-ly quick-ly died;
The friends I made all seemed some-how to drift a-way
And on-ly I am left on stage  to  end  the play.

There are so man-y songs in me that won't be sung,
I feel the bit-ter taste of tears up-on my tongue,
The time has come for me____to pay for Yes-ter-day
When I       Was    Young________________________
 

Circa 1965
English Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer
Original French Text and Music by Charles Aznavour