Things Start Out Good

I still remember my first girl friend
Yes, I can still see her face
But I'd better not mention her name
When we broke up, I was to blame
I was still happy when I was 16
Then it came time to get a real job
I had no gumption, didn't wanna work
Laid around the house like a lazy jerk

Things start out good and end up bad
People start out happy and end up sad
People start out young and end up old
People start out living and end up dead

Tried to keep my family together
Thought my parents would live forever
Had a hard time when my mother died
Laid in bed, cried and cried
Had a lot of friends when I was young
We all took some things for granted
Nobody knows where the time went
I look in the mirror and see an old man

Things start out good and end up bad
People start out happy and end up sad
People start out young and end up old
People start out living and end up dead

Sometimes I wonder what's the point
Everything seems so out of joint
Sometimes I wonder what's the purpose
Nothing goes the way we suppose

Things start out good and end up bad
People start out happy and end up sad
People start out young and end up old
People start out living and end up dead

jimcolyer.com

The examination of life, as Leonard Cohen does so brilliantly on his record "Old Ideas", can be very powerful but requires intense introspection. These lyrics stumble along the way. The verses, although displaying signs of promise, contain too much rhyme and lack proper insight; the chorus is not memorable. The idea may have started out good, but.... Grade: Verse (B-); Bridge (C); Chorus (C+)