Just Older.

Hey, man, it's been a while
Do you remember me?
When I hit the streets I was 17
A little wild, a little green
I've been up and down and in between
After all these years and miles of memories
I'm still chasing dreams
But I ain't looking over my shoulder

There is a photograph of me on The Rock, holding up a paper saying " 20 today, 18 forever". Yeah, slightly cheesy, but you do what you can to maintain a record of your life. Now the Rock’s off limits, everybody’s older, life’s changed...but looking at that picture reminds of the glory days. How do we let it come to the point where we stop chasing dreams? At 17, I was nothing if not a little wild, and a little green in the ways of life and love. I wouldn’t trade those days for the world, but I ain’t looking over my shoulder too much now...

I like the bed I'm sleeping in
Just like me, it's broken in
It's not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in it's alright with me
It's not old -- just older


Yeah, I’m not old...Just Older.


It's good to see your face
You ain't no worse for wear
Breathing that California air
When we took on the world
When we were young and brave
We got secrets that we'll take to the grave
Standing here shoulder to shoulder


Remember how it was to meet an old friend after many years? Some things change, some things don’t. Even if you don’t say it out loud, you take to reminiscing about those days. Maybe you go to the old Irani café where you used to sit for hours over cheap chai and cigarettes. Maybe you go to the pub, down a few, do some nostalgic laughing and back-slapping. Or maybe you change so much that you just don’t have much in common anymore, except a youth. And memories of it. All the dramatic promises, standing by each other through thick and thin – scraps, parents, general angst, failed love. There is an inherent brashness about youth, as it should be. However apart you have grown, it’s still good to see the faces of those who knew you when you were young and brave.


I'm not old enough to sing the blues
But I wore the holes in the soles of these shoes
You can roll the dice 'til they call your bluff
But you can't win until you're not afraid to lose


Pop philosophy. What ever would we have done without it? From Pink Floyd’s ‘Coming Back To Life”, or Meatloaf’s “Objects in the Rear View Mirror”, to Guns ‘N’ Roses and Metallica (pick a song, any song). From macho beer-fuelled headbanging to metal, to giving the laughing friends the finger when they start sniggering at you cootchie-cooing with the girlfriend with some Bryan Adams tinkling in the background... Maybe you like someone for ages but didn’t have the guts to tell him or her. One fine day, it all comes to a head, your bluff is called and you come clean. You either win or lose, but at least now, you are not afraid...


Well, I look in the mirror, I don't hate what I see
There's a few more lines staring back at me
Now the night has grown a little bit colder
Hey man, I gotta run, Now you take care
If you see coach T. Tell him I´ve cut my hair
I´ve kept my fear
Still believe I´m just- Ha!

When you look in the mirror, do you ever really look beyond whether the hair looks ok, is the pimple any better, did I miss a spot shaving? Do you look at the eyes? Are they weary, are they happy, have they seen too much…or too little? Are the red veins taking over the white, as experience takes over the innocence and the wide, bright-eyed wonder? Do we look at the new lines on the forehead or the cheeks, the crinkling near the sides of the eyes. Maybe we should spend some time looking at what we’ve become, what people remember us as, and what they might see if you met them now. Maybe it’s when you don’t hate what you see that they too will smile at what they see.


I like the bed I'm sleeping in
Just like me, it's broken in
It's not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in it's alright with me
It' s not old -- just older

Yeah, I’m not old...

Just Older.

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