Yesterdays
Ella Fitzgerald & Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra Lyrics

The song Yesterdays by Ella Fitzgerald & Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra is a nostalgic and melancholic ballad that reflects on the lost innocence and idealism of the past. The repetition of the word "yesterdays" creates a sense of longing for a time that has passed and can never be regained. The opening lines "Days I knew as happy sweet, Sequestered days, Olden days, Golden days" convey a sense of detachment and unreality, as if the singer is trying to recapture a dream or a memory that is slipping away.

The second verse of the song introduces the themes of love and youth, and how they were once intertwined in the singer's past. The lines "Days of mad romance and love, Then gay youth was mine, And truth was mine" hint at a sense of euphoria and passion that has since faded. The singer reflects on the intensity of their past life, which was "joyous free and flaming" and "forsooth was mine". The shifting tenses and the use of the archaic term "forsooth" highlight the distance between the present and the past.

The final verse repeats the themes of the previous ones and ends with a bittersweet acknowledgement of the impossibility of recapturing the past. The lines "Sad am I, Glad am I, For today I'm dreaming of, Of yesterdays" convey both the regret and the comfort that nostalgia can bring. The song is a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of time and the power that memories hold over us.