Lyrics It Once Was My Life - Van Morrison

It Once Was My Life

There were people on the sidewalks
Strolling down the avenues
They were sitting outside in cafes
We were looking for the muse
Well I was locked in by the system
Where no freedom is the rule
Now I spend all my time just trying
To make it understood
It once was my life, that’s what everybody said
All the things I used to do and the people that were friends
I’ve got to make it mean something at the end of the day
It once was my life, they can’t take that away
Trials and tribulations and stupidity still rules
Sometimes it looks like I’m on a ship of fools
It once was my life, when my message was just the street
Then it became something else, and now it’s incomplete
I’m just trying to get back to when
Can somebody please shed some light
It used to be my life, it used to be uptight
Trials and tribulations and stupidity still rules
Some days it just feels like I’m on a ship of fools
I’m back here on the boards, I can hear the engines roar
Everybody’s got to pay, some people got to pay more
Well you can tell the people anything
Spoon feed them anything you like
It used to be so simple, it used to be my life
Now everything is so complicated, just to speak or use the phone
Some people try to use me, just 'cause they don’t have their own
Don’t know who’s round the corner, trying to sell me some more tripe
It used to be my life, it used to be my life…