Once upon a time,
A girl with moonlight in her eyes,
Put her hand in mine,
And said she loved me so . . .
But that was once upon a time,
Very long ago!

Once upon a hill,
we sat beneath the willow tree,
Counting all the stars,
And waiting for the dawn,
But that was once upon a time,
Now, the tree is gone!

How the breeze ruffled through her hair,
How we always laughed,
As though tomorrow wasn’t there . . .
We were young,
And didn’t have a care,
Where did it go?

Once upon a time,
The world was sweeter than we knew,
Everything was ours,
How happy we were then . . .
But, somehow, once upon a time,
Never comes again!

~ from the 1962 Stage musical "All American"
Music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams