When the World Was Young
[Verse]
Wherever I go they call me by name
And that in itself is some kind of fame
I'm good for a laugh, and a drink, and a game
Wherever I go, they're I'm glad that I came
The life that I live, I like it just fine
There's music and romance and glamour and wine
And beautiful girls and some of them mine
But often my eyes see a different shine
Yesterday When I Was Young
[Verse 1]
Yesterday, when I was young
The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame
The thousand dreams I dreamed
The splendid things I planned
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day
Only now I see how the years ran away
[Bridge]
Yesterday, when I was young
So many drinking songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
So much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out
I never stopped to think what life was all about
And every conversation I can now recall
Concerned itself with me, nothing else at all
[Verse 2]
Yesterday, the moon was blue
And every crazy day brought something new to do
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
Never saw the waste and emptiness beyond
The game of life I played with arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away
And only I am left on stage to end the play
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung
I feel the bitter note of tears upon my tongue
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday
When I was young
Medley: When The World Was Young/Yesterday When I Was Young was written by Johnny Mercer & Philippe-Gérard & Angèle Vannier & Charles Aznavour & Herbert Kretzmer.
Medley: When The World Was Young/Yesterday When I Was Young was produced by Norman Schwartz.