The Last Year Of My Youth

I remember quite well how good it felt In the last year of my youth When girls with tantalizing eyes Beseeched me "Please be sweet" And fell like lovely petals at my feet Or in my dreams they did Most of the time they hid To tell you the truth In the last year of my youth The night before my friends had called And asked "Are you okay? Are you running hot? Are you feeling cold? Are you out of juice? Are you calculating your temperature? Have you checked your pulse? Have you heard from your family doctor, or his older friend Don Juan? You're going to be twenty-one, your best days are gone." I was standing in the kitchen With a flat iron in my hand Straightening out the creases in my shirt I looked into the mirror and I saw a head full of hurt from the night before I went running to the church on time I kicked open the door and I looked about Her friends and relations They were filled with doubt Their temples were exploding Their eyes were almost crossed They said "Will you?", I said "I do" And they said "No, all is lost" So we ran away and we had twelve kids and we bought a house 'Til I swapped my spouse for a fast little car that was red and sporty And my friends call again the night before I was twenty-nine, thirty-nine, and forty I began to lie about my age Knock off a year or two 'Til I woke up one day and I was younger than you Now I'm standing here before you with a spotlight in my eyes And I won't confess the dark recesses of my mind This man keeps making the same mistakes until he finally learns I'll bid you a fond farewell and many happy returns Hold onto your fondest wish whatever you call the truth And if you need some further proof It's here and now in the last year of my youth It's here and now in the last year of my youth

The Last Year Of My Youth (unreleased song) Written by Elvis Costello Performed by Elvis Costello First known performance:  June 4, 2014, Late Show With David Letterman - broadcast 2014-06-05 Last known performance:  June 14, 2015, Nottingham, England      (34 known performances)

Chords

Intro: C   Csus4   C   G

      C                   G
I remember quite well how good it felt
       F               C
In the last year of my youth

When girls with tantalizing eyes
  G
Beseeched me "Please be sweet"
    C                             G
And fell like lovely petals at my feet
   F                 C
Or in my dreams they did
F                     C
Most of the time they hid
   Em       
To tell you the truth
       F               C    Csus4
In the last year of my youth
    C               G
The night before my friends had called
    F              C
And asked "Are you okay?

Are you running hot?  Are you feeling cold?
        G          Gsus4  G
Are you out of juice?
        C
Are you calculating your temperature?
         G
Have you checked your pulse?
         F                      C
Have you heard from your family doctor,
       F                C
or his older friend Don Juan?
       F                  C
You're going to be twenty-one,
    Em    F        C      Csus4   C
your best days are gone."

      G
I was standing in the kitchen
      Bb         F     C
With a flat iron in my hand
Em                    Em7     F     C
Straightening out the creases in my shirt
G
I looked into the mirror 
           Bb     F      C
and I saw a head full of hurt
F                C
from the night before
       F                        C
I went running to the church on time
F                 C
I kicked open the door
      G             Gsus4  G
and I looked at thou

    C              G
Her friends and relations
         F            C
They were filled with doubt

Their temples were exploding
      G
Their eyes were crossed
     F                   C
They said "Will you?", I said "I do"
          G
And they said "No, all is lost"

      C
So we ran away
       G
and we had twelve kids
       F              C
and we bought a house

'Til I swapped my spouse for a fast little car
         G
that was red and sporty
       C
And my friends call again the night before
                G
I was twenty-nine, thirty-nine, and forty
           F            C
I began to lie about my age
F                   C
Knock off a year or two
     F             C
'Til I woke up one day
         Em   F        C
and I was younger than you

        C               G
Now I'm standing here before you
       F               C
with a spotlight in my eyes
                                     G
And I won't confess the dark recesses of my mind
     C
This man keeps making the same mistakes
                 G
until he finally learns
     F                  C
I'll bid you a fond farewell
   Em    F       C
and many happy returns
F              C
Hold onto your fondest wish
    F                 C
whatever you call the truth
           F                 C
And if you need some further proof
     Em                  F               C    Csus4  C
It's here and now in the last year of my youth
     Em             F                    C
It's here and now in the last year of my youth

Internal links

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