Now as the wheel of life turns faster Now as the seasons seem to fly
I see so many things at last But didn't see the time go by
I've known delight, I've known disaster The caviar, the humble pie
From the absurd to the sublime I didn't see the time go by
I didn't see the years roll on I didn't know the road would bend
Refused to see when youth was gone Pretending it might never end
And now there is a price to pay For every day I threw away
It seems I wasted half a lifetime Within the blinking of an eye
I didn't hear the midnight chime I didn't see the time go by
In stolen nights and brief romances I kissed the girls and made them cry
While there were balconies to climb I didn't see the time go by
I was the guy with all the answers The halfway truth, the little lie
So sure, so certain in my prime I didn't see the time go by
I hit the heights, I beat the dirt I left some wreckage in my wake
I didn't see that lies can hurt I didn't know how hearts can break
And now they come to haunt my mind The lives I touched and left behind
I've sung a hundred songs of longing Of sweet regret and hope run dry
I've searched for melody and rhyme But never saw how time can fly
Never saw the darkening sky I was a minstrel of my time
Who did not see the time go by