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