It's the sad-eyed, goodbye, yesterday moments I remember 
It's the bleak street, weak-kneed partings I recall 
It's the mistier mist 
The hazier days 
The brighter sun 
And the easier lays 
There's all the more reason for laughing and crying 
When you're younger and life isn't too hard at all 

It's the fantastic drowse of the afternoon Sundays 
That bored you to rages of tears 
The unending pleading, to waste all your good times 
In thoughts of your middle aged years 
It's a vertical hold, all the things that you're told 
For the everyday hero it all turns to zero 
And there's all the more reason for living or dying 
When you're young and your troubles are all very small 

Out here on the street 
We'd gather and meet 
And scuff up the sidewalk with endlessly restless feet 
And half of the time 
We'd broaden our minds 
More in the poolhall than we did in the schoolhall 
With the downtown chewing-gum bums 
Watching the nightlife, the lights and the fun 

Never wanted to be the boy next door 
Always thought I'd be something more 
But it ain't easy for a smalltown boy 
It ain't easy at all 
Thinkin' it right, doin' it wrong 
It's easier from an armchair 
Waves of alternatives wash at my sleepiness 
Have my eggs poached for breakfast I guess 

I think I'll be Clint Eastwood 
Oh no, Jimi Hendrix, he looks good 
Let's try William The Conqueror 
Now who else do I like?