Yesterday, When I Was Young

YESTERDAY, WHEN I WAS YOUNG
By Herbert Kretzmer & Charles Aznavour
Eddy Arnold
Key: F

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

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Yes-ter-day when I was young 
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so man-y drink-ing songs 
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were wait-ing to be sung, 
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So ma-ny way-ward pleas-ures 
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lay in store for me 

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and so much pain my daz-zled 
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eyes re-fused to see, 
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I ran so fast that time 
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and youth at last ran out 
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I nev-er stopped to think 
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what life was all a-bout, 
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and ev-‘ry con-ver-sa-tion 
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I can now re-call 
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con-cerned it-self with me, 
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and noth-ing else at all. 

Yesterday the moon was blue 
and every crazy day 
brought something new to do, 
and I used my magic age 
as if it were a wand 
and never saw the waste 
and emptiness beyond, 
The game of love I played 
with arrogance and pride
and every flame I lit 
so quickly, quickly died 
the friends I made all seemed, 
somehow, to drift away 
and only I am left 
on stage to end the play.

Yesterday when I was young
there were so many songs 
that waited to be sung, 
So many wild pleasures 
lay in store for me 
and so much pain my dazzled 
eyes refused to see, 

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There are so ma-ny songs 

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in me that won't be sung
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I feel the bit-ter taste
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of tears up-on my tongue 
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the time has come for me 
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to pay for yes-ter-day
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When I was young.