the rooms were so much colder then
my father was a soldier then
the times were very hard
when I was young
when I was young

I smoked my first cigarette at ten
and for boys I had a bad yen
I had quite a ball
when I was young
when I was young

when I was young it was more important
pain more painful, the laughter much louder, yeah
when I was young
when I was young

I met my first love at thirteen
he was brown and I was pretty green
I learned quite a lot
when I was young
when I was young

when I was young it was more important
pain more painful, the laughter much louder, yeah
when I was young

my faith was so much stronger then
I believed in fellow men
I was so much older then
when I was young
when I was young
when I was young