[Verse 1]
When I was seventeen
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for small town boys
And soft summer nights
We'd hide from the lights
On the village green
When I was seventeen

[Verse 2]
When I was twenty-one
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for city boys
Who lived up the stair
I'd perfume my hair
It came undone
When I was twenty-one

[Verse 3]
When I was thirty-five
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for hot-blooded men
Of independent means
We'd ride in limousines
Their chauffeurs would drive
When I was thirty-five
[Verse 4]
But now the days are short
I'm in the autumn of the year
And I think of my life as vintage wine
From fine old kegs
From the brim to the dregs
It poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year

[Outro]
It was a mess of good years