Eddie, again, thanks so much for the thoughtful suggestions. They all strike me as sound. I like the idea of cutting the post-solo break and also doing away with one of the two final verses. Those fixes will shorten the length of the song, and I won't lose anything I wanted to say. In fact, I expect that implementing the changes will more strongly and effectively convey what I wish to say.

Toward that end--what I wish to say--thank you, Japov, for the time and care you took to offer a rewrite of the lyrics. You also thought to eliminate one of the final verses, and I'm convinced that's a good move. The rewrite of yours that I like best is "And if you wonder if I ever miss my youth/I tell you now for certain that I do." I was never thrilled with "If you wonder if I ever come unglued." Thankfully, you've given me something that's more resonant and fitting. I picked up a guitar a few minutes ago and tried that new line. I liked it. I'll probably change the second line of the couplet, as well, to something like, "I tell you nopw there are some nights when I do." Point is, I want to more clearly say that I don't ALWAYS miss my youth. Only sometimes. I also like changing "Now we stumble ..." to "Now I stumble ..." I also tried singing those revised lines a few minutes ago, and though I'll need to get used to the way they roll off my tongue, I think I might keep them.

To both of you gentlemen, truly, thanks for the help. ... David