I also always thought that these opening lines were absolutely amazing:

"The trees they do grow high and the leaves they do grow green,
The day is past and gone, my love, that you and I have seen."

Never liked the rest of the song much, to be honest. I've sometimes wondered whether I could sing just those two lines, as a sort of haiku of a song... or maybe use them as the springboard for a song about getting old and handing over the real business of living to the next generation. (God that sounds depressing, ha ha!)