And it wasn't long ago
     I thought that this could never happen
     I passed out quarters
     Like pieces of my golden heart

Real smart in high school
Couldn't take college
Sometimes when it rains I hit the art museum
I look at the paintings
There's one of a lady
She covers up and turns away before I see

     And it wasn't long ago
     I thought that this could never happen
     I rolled off dollar bills
     Like pieces of my golden heart

I looked for a real job
They said I was crazy
Sent me to a man, he gave me pills and things
I did like he told me
But that made me crazy
Walking round this world and I could not feel a thing

     And it wasn't long ago
     I thought that this could never happen
     I helped my sister do her homework while my mother slept
     I made up songs about the blues and Charlie Chaplin
     A dozen verses
     Like pieces of my golden heart