Yesterday when I was young  
The taste of life was sweet  
As rain upon my tongue  
I played at life as if  
It were a foolish game  
The way the evening breeze  
Plays with a candle flame  

The thousand dreams I dreamed  
The splendid things I planned  
I always built to last  
On weak and shifting sands  
I lived by night  
Declined the naked light of day  
And only now I see  
The years that ran away  

Yesterday when I was young  
So many crazy songs  
Were waiting to be sung  
So many crazy times  
That lay in store for me  
And so much pain inside  
My heart 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  
That I can now recall  
Has all to do with me  
And nothing else at all  

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  
And never saw the waste  
And emptiness beyond  

The games 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  

© Copyright 1965 and 1966 Edition Musicales Charles Aznavour, Paris, France