Now we take our time
So nonchalant
And spend our nights
So Bon vivant
We dress our days
In silken robes
The money comes
The money goes
We know it's all a passing phase,....
We light our lamps
For atmosphere
And hang our hopes
On chandeliers
We're going long
We're gaining weight
We're sleeping long
And far too late
And so it's times
To change our ways
But I've loved these days. [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/billy_joel/ive_loved_these_days.html ]
Now as we indulge
In things refined
We hide our hearts
From harder times
A string of pearls
A foreign car
Oh we can only go so far
On caviar and Cabernay.
We drown our doubts
In dry champage
And soothe our souls
With fine cocaine
I don't know why i ever care
We'll get so high
And get nowhere
We'll have to change our jaded ways,...
But i've loved these days.
So before we end
And then begin
We'll drink a toast to how it's been
A few more hours to be complete
A few more nights on satin sheets
A few more times that I can say,..
I've loved these days
He's saying that he is going to miss all the times he's had where he was footloose and fancy free, and now he has to buckle down (again) and go to work, and put away all of the finer things in life that he has been used to. This is of course (in real life for him) the result of his bankruptcy which was caused by his finance manager (who was embezzling money from mr. Joel, and just plain overall being a jackass with billy's money).
But, like the classic and unshakable billy joel we all know, he turned it around and he did go back to work even turning his bankruptcy and divorce into songs that we all know and love. Go billy.