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Shades Of Gray Lyrics
When the world and I were young,
Just yesterday.
Life was such a simple game,
A child could play.
It was easy then to tell right from wrong.
Easy then to tell weak from strong.
When a man should stand and fight,
Or just go along.
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
I remember when the answers seemed so clear
We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear.
It was easy then to tell truth from lies
Selling out from compromise
Who to love and who to hate,
The foolish from the wise.
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
It was easy then to know what was fair
When to keep and when to share.
How much to protect your heart
And how much to care.
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
Only shades of gray.
Just yesterday.
Life was such a simple game,
A child could play.
It was easy then to tell right from wrong.
Easy then to tell weak from strong.
When a man should stand and fight,
Or just go along.
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear.
It was easy then to tell truth from lies
Selling out from compromise
Who to love and who to hate,
The foolish from the wise.
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
When to keep and when to share.
How much to protect your heart
And how much to care.
Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white,
Only shades of gray.
Only shades of gray.
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Pretty sure that's it's "It was easy then. . ." not "It was easier than. . ." i.e. "It was easy then to tell truth from lies,"
Yes, the lyric should be "easy then" rather than "easier than." This seems to me to be a statement on the experience of the Sixties, a time of massive upheaval and change, a time when people questioned authority, and "the old road rapidly faded." Ideas and mores that seemed so simple and so cut-and-dry about right and wrong and black and white in the Fifties quickly and stunningly were thrown to the wind in the Sixties. Only shades of gray remained.
Agreed. Hadn't thought of the 60's angle. For me it's always been a more general message about growing older - the simple black and white views of youth become less clear with age. There never seems to be clear cut issues - the truth is always gray. I think maybe it's both. Whatever - it's a great song.
And "live" in the third line should actually be "life."
"Easier than" should be "Easy then".
Sad song about not being a kid anymore. When life events hit they shake you to the core and you realize life's answers aren't so obvious anymore. I got in touch with this song again when my father passed away and suddenly the man with all the answers wasn't there anymore.
I remember this song from something like 45 years ago. It's message about coming to terms with the dissolutionment of our reality as we become older and more aware still holds up. I would love to see a hard rock band like Disturbed do an updated cover this in the vein of what they did with Simon and Garfunkel's Hello Darkness.
As we get older we learn to embrace the mystery of life and stop searching for meaning.
I don't think so, I think the lyrics are "easier" not "easy."