Why Should We?

These are some song lyrics I had on the back burner for quite some time now. They underwent many changes, but this is a version I'm finally content with. Feel free to share any thoughts after reading.

Why must we grow old?

When you're young you've got so much to live for.

But the world won't stay the same,

So I guess that means we have to change...

We're not getting any younger

So we can't stand still!

We're not growing any wiser

if we ignore our chance until

it's too late.

And time won't wait

so why should we?

Debts we pay

and debts we still owe;

the promises we make

but never keep to ourselves.

At our time's end

are they all we have to show?

Just empty words in dusty books,

hanging on forgotten shelves?

Forever in forgotten realms...

Life is meant

to be lived at full speed,

To cherish every minute

'cause it doesn't last for long.

But when our time is spent

on things we don't need,

we fade into the background

with no magic in our songs.

We lose the magic in our songs...

So we can't stand still!

We're not growing any wiser

if we ignore our chance until

it's too late.

And time won't wait

so why should we?

Why do the weeks grow ever longer

yet pass by oh so quick?

Why is a man like a candle burning*

at both ends of the wick?

I guess we're not

getting any younger...

so we can't stand still.

We won't grow any wiser

if we put off our dreams until

it's too late.

And time won't wait,

So why should we?

*This line is an homage to Suzanne Cleary's poem "From The Boy's Own Book: A Compleat Encyclopedia of All the Diversions Athletic, Scientific, and Recreative, of Boyhood and Youth by William Clarke"