When I was younger
Udo Lindenberg
When I was younger - millions of years ago
I was a waterplant, swimming on a firesea
below my roots a burning star was turning round
and I slowly began to change
I wore a thousand leaves and skins and shells
I lived a thousand lifes between the surface and the ocean's floor
And then my consciousness grew clearer
and I realized, I was a fish
and I can still remember the fear I felt
when I was swallowed for the first time
And then one day I crawled up on the shore
I tried my first uncertain steps in the yellow sand
I searched for ways of livin' in this world I didn't know before
And soon I found myself moving on again
from the coast to the desert and to the inner land
I had my home in the canyons by the volcanic seas
lived on cloudy mountains and on primeval trees
It was a long long journey
and it was like the tide
there was a new wave comimg
each time that I died
It's like climbing up a ladder
without knowing how far you'll get
the first step was the waterplant
gettin' higher with ev'ry death