Song For Duke (Lp Version) - Judy Collins

I didn't even know the man

I didn't know the man himself

Even though his music filled my life

As it has so many others

I knew that he had died that week

After fighting death a year or more

But I had had a rule before

That funerals were a waste of flowers

But something said I had to go

To be a witness to his gift of love

A man who never once gave up on life

Until death took him in his tracks

The people stood around the church

Ten thousand people there they say or more

Black and white rich and poor

Together they were there to say farewell

In New York city it had rained that day

The streets were silver and the sky was grey

But in the church the music soared and sang

And seemed to fill the air with shining sun

The man was a hero

He played the music of our souls

He knew that we all have in us

A place where beauty always grows

Outside in the streets again

The people wandered through the falling rain

They waved their hands and dried their tears

And turned to go about their lives again

But none of us will be the same

If we hear the things his music says

That loving is the gift of life

And making music was his way of love

The man was a hero

He played the music of our souls

He knew that we all have in us

A place where beauty always grows