I was just a little boy
My father said to me
Don't ever play with guns
Or watch too much TV
Now I'm watching Elvis
On a jumbo screen
With a big ol' gun in my hand

He said act your age
Act your age
Ain't it strange
How your body's a cage
When you act your age

When I was wild and in my teens
I spent all my time tasting illicit things
Smoking and drinking and being obscene
When I was in my teens

They said act your age
Act your age
Ain't it strange
How your body's a cage
When you act your age

Now I'm old and grey
My children say to me (act your age, act your age)
'No howling at the Moon
Or drinking with the sea' (act your age, act your age)
So I'm sailing by the stars
Barking, oh blah-dee (act your age, act your age)
With a tumbler of rye in hand

They said act your age
Act your age
Ain't it strange
How your body's a cage
When you act your age