STAYING YOUNG
From the Broadway musical "Take me Along" (1959)
(Bob Merrill)

Walter Pidgeon (Broadway Production) - 1959
Marty Paich (Instr.) - 1959
Rex Allen - 1961
Mabel Mercer - 1968


Damn, damn, damn !

A man is a fool to lose his temper
He plays right into the hand of his opponent
If a man perturbs the nerves that should be placid
Only stodges turn to acid

As they say in Christian Science, "Rise above it!"
Should an elephant be panicked by an ant
That's why a man's a fool to lose his temper
Over a miserable son-of-a-...., like that

Imagine that, that squeeky little rat
What an evil mind a man must have to make him so suspicious
His little angel with her turned up spout
I'll bet a lump of butter wouldn't melt in her mouth
My son Richard doesn't know the score yet
I'll bet Richard doesn't even know what girls are for yet

I should have taken that Macomber by the neck
Wiped up the porch with him
Dumped him in the grass
Punched him in the nose

I'm glad I'm not yet an old like that
And wind up losin' my hold like that
Should the truth be known
He's resentful of the young
'Cause he's over the hill, lookin' back
And his hindsight's all out o' wack

I'm glad I'm not yet an old like that
And wind up losin' my hold like that

The moon has a few new wrinkles
It shines a bit more silver now than gold
I'm stayin' young, I'm stayin' young
But everyone around me's growin' old

When life only rains in sprinkles
You've got to gather all your hands can hold
I'm stayin' young, I'm stayin' young
But everyone around me's growin' old

While love is still my jewel of recollection
No Valentine too 'fraid and frail to fold
So I'll go my heart's direction
My story's in the telling, not the told
I'm stayin' young, I'm stayin' young
It's wonderful the way I hold my own
When everything surrounding me has grown so old


REPRISE:

The Moon has a few new wrinkles
It shines a bit more silver now than gold
I'm stayin' young, I'm stayin' young
But everything around me's growin' old

The house has the creaks and trembles
And winter leaves her shiverin' from cold
I'm stayin' young, I'm stayin' young
It's wonderful the way I hold my own
When everything surrounding me has grown so old

My Wife, she's gettin' old
I watch her when she walks and I feel a little ache
It really is amazing all the changes time can make
She asks me every day, "Is my hair getting grey?"
And I look, but just a bit beyond
And I say, "Hah, not grey, Dear, it's blonde"

I seek not for praise, but I have some days
When I look so young and sporty
I get looks from girls, from sweet things in curls
Some of them as young as forty

When I meet some friend or neighbour
I say it out of common decency
I always say, "Why, you ain't changed a day"
And then I have to laugh if they agree
'Cause everybody else is growin' old.......like me!


(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - September 2005)