Life Begins At Forty - Sophie Tucker

I've often heard it said and sung

That life is sweetest

When you're young

And kids

Sixteen to twenty-one

Think they're having

All the fun

I disagree

I say it isn't so

And I'm one gal

Who ought to know

I started young

And I'm still going strong

But I've learned

As I've gone along

That life begins at forty

That's when love

And living start to become

A gentle art

A woman who's been careful

Finds that's when she's

In her prime

And a good man

When he's forty knows just

How to take his time

Conservative or sporty

It's not until you're forty

That you learn the how

And why and the what and when

In the twenties and the thirties

You want your love

In large amounts

But after you reach forty

It's the quality that counts

Yes life begins at forty

And I've just begun

To live all over again

You see the sweetest things

In life grow sweeter

As the years roll on

Like the music from a violin

That has been well played upon

And the sweetest smoke

Is from a mellow

Broken and old pipe

And the sweetest tasting peach

Is one that's mature

Round and ripe

In the twenties and the thirties

You're just an amateur

But after you reach forty

That's when you become a connoisseur

Then it isn't grab and get it

And a straight line for the door

You're not hasty you're tasty

You enjoy things so much more

For instance

A novice gulps his brandy down

He doesn't understand

Observe a connoisseur

The way he holds it in his hand

How he strokes the glass

Fondles it warms it as he should

Smaks his lips

Aahhh slowly sips hah boy

It tastes good

Life begins at forty

Then it isn't hit and run

And you find much more fun

You romance a girl of twenty

And it costs you all your dough

But when a forty thanks you

She hates to see you go

And girls of twenty

All they want are big men

Big men with strong physiques

I don't say that it's bad

But you do get tired

Of those damn Greeks

Life begins at forty

And I'm just living all over again