In honor of reaching the age where I was eligible for Medicare and senior discounts, I wrote a parody of the 1934 jazz standard Blame It On My Youth, original lyrics by Edward Heyman.
If I should yawn at fads I’ve seen before
Blame it on my age
If I predict collapse at their encore
Blame it on my age
Hacks with facile VC funding
Grasp at all that’s stale
Promise thriving services
It’s a tiresome tale
If I will sit through challenging narratives
Blame it on my age
If I can welcome what each speaker gives
Blame it on my age
Please discard each hobbyhorse
Thought contends with thought
Really change the discourse
Matching wish to ought
If crude displays of stolen wealth and glitz
Prompt a gasp of rage
If cads must celebrate their lack of wits
Let me leave the stage
I prefer small plucky folk
Maverick misfits
Celebrating agile wins when
Humbled power quits
If I should question facile inspirations
Blame it on my age
If I must challenge incorrect citations
Listing book and page
If I question everything
Trying to grow more sage
Don’t blame it on a phage—
Blame it on my age
This poem was published in the Spring 2025 issue of Gyroscope Review, April 1, 2025.
Original lyrics
If I expected love when first we kissed
Blame it on my youth
If only just for you I did exist
Blame it on my youth
I believed in everything
Like a child at three
You meant more than everything
All the world to me
If you were on my mind all night and day
Blame it on my youth
If I forgot to eat and sleep and pray
Blame it on my youth
If I cried a little bit
When first I learned the truth
Don’t blame it on my heart
Blame it on my youth
Lyrics: Edward Heyman
Music: Oscar Levant
Blame It On My Youth © Universal Music Publishing Group
Andy Oram
Posted November 28, 2020