In the ancient middle fifties, the closin' sixties roar
I was caught up in your passion, I could only beg for more
And if I had a dollar bill I'd give it to you then
So I could tell the whole wide world, one day I knew you when

With your dangerous charisma, your thundering attack
You charged the very air I breathed and kept me coming back
You helped me through my darkest hours, you always were my friend
You gave me hope to carry on, because I knew you when

I knew you when the mountain tops were right beneath your feet
When artistry and freedom were complete
Before you were an icon, before they all, too, came
You could say I knew you when

We all sit here with our memories, of a glorious long ago
When our heroes seemed immortal, were they really so?
It's a question for a wiser man, I will not ask again
I will only say I'm grateful, for the time I knew you when

I knew you when (I knew you when), oh, I knew you when
I knew you when (I knew you when), yeah, I knew you when

I knew you when (I knew you when)
I knew you when (I knew you when), yeah, I knew you when