ARTIST: Peter S. Beagle TITLE: When I Was a Young Man Lyrics and Chords [Last Unicorn]
[Beagle's original melody hasn't been published; this poem is most often sung to the traditional tune of "The Ash Grove", the chords of which are shown below.]
When I was a young man and very well thought of I couldn't ask aught that the ladies denied I nibbled their hearts like a handful of raisins And I never spoke love but I knew that I lied / D - Em A / D G A D / : But I said to myself "Ah, they none of them know The secret I shelter and savor and save I wait for the one who will see through my seeming And I'll know when I love by the way I behave" / D - Em A / Bm - E7 A / D - Em A / D G A D / The years drifted over like clouds in the heavens The ladies went by me like snow on the wind I charmed and I cheated, deceived and dissembled And I sinned and I sinned and I sinned and I sinned But I said to myself, "Ah, they none of them see There's part of me pure as the whisk of a wave My lady is late but she'll find I've been faithful And I'll know when I love by the way I behave" At last came a lady both knowing and tender Saying you're not at all what they take you to be I betrayed her before she had quite finished speaking And she swallowed cold poison and jumped in the sea And I say to myself when there's time for a word As I gracefully grow more debauched and depraved "Ah, love may be strong, but a habit is stronger And I knew when I loved by the way I behaved"
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