[Verse 1]
When I was only seventeen
Couldn't wait for twenty-one
I'd hang around on Clayton Street
In the bars there, gettin' drunk
A baseball cap and a fake ID
Would get me in the clubs
Then I would dance with the college girls
And lie about who I was
I'd say, "I'm pre-Med, here at UGA
Live on Milledge Avenue
I was raised over in Buckhead
I drive a BMW"
I was breakin' hearts and takin' names
And numbers just for fun
Stealin' kisses, wishin' I was twenty-one

[Verse 2]
And Thursdays came and the pocket change
Would quickly disappear
Upstairs at Lowry's Tavern
We'd pay a nickel for every beer
Shootin' pool, smokin' cigarettes
With a dizzy head and a grin
4 AM on a school night
Still hangin' out with my friends
One hour's sleep on a dirty couch
No shower, off to school
Smellin' just like a brewery
With a bad hangover too
The teachers all would hassle me
"Stay awake, pay attention"
I was catchin' hell, wishin' I was twenty-one

[Bridge]
The youngest one of all my friends
I didn't act my age
Too cool for the football games
And the homecoming parades
Now I look back and I have to smile
'Cause, boy, it was fun
Bein' seventeen, wishin' I was twenty=one
[Verse 3]
And now I'm only twenty-six
Feeling more like forty-three
My hairline's disappearing
And I never get ID'd
My clothes are out of fashion
No, I'm not cool anymore
In the bed by ten o'clock each night
And up at half-past four
Still I go down to that college town
When the Bulldogs play at home
I drink keg beer from a trash can
'Til the whole damn thing is gone
Then I look at all those college girls
So innocent and young
And I just check 'em out and say, "Damn
I wish I was twenty-one"