Some days I feel like I should have pushed harder

- been a contender

- made a difference

- taken some risks

Got hold of a dream and made it an ambition.

I know some people who tried

To roll their ball up steep slopes

- musicians, climbers, actors

- star in the school football team

- tall poppies

They're all squashed now.

I took a different path

Civil service taught me to play percentages

Took away the rough edges

- can't see nothing but shades of grey

- got used to the sting of anonymity

- life in a hierarchy

And I like my simple pleasures

- time with wife and son

- desk to rest my elbows on

- money in the bank

Now I'll never know

How the air tastes at the summit

But I can't look back

Not enough time to live twice