I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song I'm twenty-three now, but I won't be for long Time hurries on And the leaves that are green turn to brown And they whither with the wind And they crumble in your hand Once my heart was filled with love of a girl I held her close, but she faded in the night Like a poem I meant to write And the leaves that are green turn to brown And they whither with the wind And they crumble in your hand I threw a pebble in a brook And watched the ripples run away And they never made a sound And the leaves that are green turn to brown And they whither with the wind And they crumble in your hand Hello, hello Hello, hello Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye That's all there is And the leaves that are green turn to brown