“The Man I Used to Be” LYRICS

You’ve changed, bub,
You’ve changed a lot—
And the gang you used to go with all concur.
You’ve changed, bub,
You’re not yourself—
If this is yourself, you’re not the man you were!

The man I used to be,
A happy man was he,
And aimless as a leaf in a gale.
Whatever has become
Of that lighthearted bum
Who thought he had the world by the tail?

The man I used to be—
His life was gay and free
And aimless as a cloud in the sky.
He thought he knew the game,
Then along came a dame
Who turned him into some other guy.

I’ve got ambition now,
I’ve got a mission now;
I aim to reach the top of the tree.
That other fly-by-night,
Who flew so high by night,
Has vanished like a sail on the sea.

And I’ll never find that easy-living,
Easy-taking, easy-giving
Fellow that I used to call me—
You can never find the man you used to be.

The man I used to be
Would go to sleep at three
Or four a.m. or seven or nine,
And when his weary head
Wasn’t near any bed,
A table or a chair would be fine!

A man without a goal,
A sort of friendly soul,
He liked to play the role of a host
To any thirsty pal
Or a casual gal
Who’d stay to cook his coffee and toast.

He was a ne’er-do-well
Who wouldn’t dare do well;
He never saw the top of a tree.
But kind of sad I was
To see the cad I was
Dissolving like a sail on the sea.

And I’ll never find that fatalistic,
Free-and-easy, egotistic
Optimist who used to be me—
You can never find the man you used to be.
You can never find the man you used to be.