I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
I’m twenty-two now but I won’t be for long
Time hurries on
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither with the wind
And they crumble in your hand
Once my heart was filled with the love of a girl
I held her close, but she faded in the night
Like a poem I meant to write
I threw a pebble in a brook
And watched the ripples run away
And they never made a sound
Hello, hello, hello, hello, good-bye
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye
That’s all there is
And the leaves that are green turned to brown
And they wither with the wind
And they crumble in your hand
At 67 years old, this song comes to me like it could never when I was 16. I know precisely what it means, this song. ... It is me. A brook splashed with pebbles. The ripples all run away. I am a tree. My leaves turning to brown. .... Hello, hello ..... Goodbye, goodbye. That is all there is. ..... Goodbye, soon, near.