SWEET YOUTH
Of long-past time, these memories of mine -
So carefree was I then, and would never be again -
Little thought to what I did - I was acting like a kid -
Laughing, joking, playing games, and my friends all did the same -
Lost, you’d say, in my own little world -
Football, baseball, and didn’t notice girls -
Time creeped by like molasses when it’s cold -
Thoroughly convinced that life gets easy when you’re old -
“Old,” of course, meant twenty-one or twenty-five -
You could stay up ‘til you wanted to - they’d even let you drive!
If I was growing up, I didn’t show it -
I was learning every day, but didn’t even know it!
Ahh, sweet youth - brief, sweet youth -
“Hot Wheels” cars, a banana-seat bike -
The only things that mattered were the things I really liked –
Of course, I loved my family, but life wasn’t urgent yet,
And disappointment didn’t spawn perpetual regret -
Santa took forever, but was gone in just a blink -
I was so consumed with playing that I never stopped to think -
Precious, fleeting moments didn’t strike me as they passed -
As far as I knew then, the way things were would always last -
Shameful to me now, how I thought of little else -
I was no unruly child, but mostly focused on myself -
The issues of the world remained a million miles away,
And all that held my interest was in front of me that day,
But I’m thankful for my parents, who saw everything I did,
And knew that worry’s time would come,
So they just let me be a kid -
As I was growing up, they let me stumble,
And given all the falls I took, you’d think I’d be more humble!
Ahh, sweet youth - brief, sweet youth -
La, la, la, la, la - la, la, la, la, la, la - la, la, la, la, la - la, la, la, la, la, la -
The time would come for deeper worries,
And to say the very least, it seemed to hurry,
But those years knew only childhood’s pleasures,
And thanks to Mom, and Dad, and God,
Those memories are treasures
Of my sweet youth - my brief, sweet youth -
Ahh, sweet youth - sweet youth –
Sweet, sweet youth.....