When I Was Young

Intro: 
 
Em 
/ / / / / / / / 
 
[5X: 1: bass (eighth notes) w/cymbal 
2: electric guitar (tune low E down to D and back up) 
3: acoustic guitar enters 
4: violin enters] 
 
Verse 1: 
 
Em D 
The rooms were so much colder then 
Em D 
My father was a soldier then 
Em D 
And times were very hard 
Em 
When I was young 
 
Riff 1 [guitar and violin, arranged for two guitars]: 
 
(Em) 
v v v v v 
------------12-14-12---10-12-10---9--10--9----|-7-- 
------------10-12-10---8--10-8----7--8---7----|-5-- 
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(young) 
 
/D Em [Riff 1] 
When I was young 
 
Verse 2: 
 
I smoked my first cigarette at ten 
And for girls I had a bad yen 
And I had quite a ball 
When I was young [Riff 1] 
 
Em 
/ / / / / / / / 
 
Bridge: 
 
G Em 
When I was young it was more important 
D 
Pain, more pain, but I laughed so much louder, yeah 
Em 
When I was young [Riff 1] 
(D) Em 
When I was young [Riff 1] 
 
Verse 3: 
 
I met my first love at thirteen 
She was brown and I was pretty green 
And I learned quite a lot 
When I was young [Riff 1] 
/D Em [N.C.] 
When I was young 
 
Instrumental break: 
 
[key changes to Gm]: 
 
Gm F [3X] 
/ / / / / / / / 
Gm 
/ / / / / / / / 
 
Chorus [in Bb] 
 
Bb Gm 
When I was young it was more important 
F 
Pain, more pain, though I laughed so much louder, yeah 
Gm 
When I was young 
 
Riff 2 [guitar and violin, arranged for two guitars]: 
 
(Gm) 
v v v v v 
------------15-17-15---14-15-14---12-14--12---|-10- 
------------13-15-13---11-13-11---10-11--10---|-8-- 
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(young) × × × parts do not always track 
in parallel fifths 
 
Gm [N.C.] 
When I was young 
 
Verse 4 [chords implied by bass]: 
 
Gm F 
My faith was so much stronger then 
Gm F 
I believed in fellow men 
Gm F 
And I was so much older then 
Gm [acoustic guitar strums Gm chord; violin enters] 
When I was young 
When I was young 
 
Coda: 
 
[band re-enters] 
 
(Gm) 
When I was young [repeat to fade]