Dear Friend

Ben Boecker Records Memorial Song For Graham Johnson Cultural Arts Endowment.

An original recording of “Dear Friend” written and composed by Ben Boecker as a student at University of North Carolina for the Pauper Players Theater.  Ben was inspired by the work of the GJCAE, and the memory of Graham Johnson.   The benefit concert, with many other performers, donated proceeds to the Graham Johnson Cultural Arts Endowment. 

Here are the lyrics of Ben’s song:

Dear friend,

Beyond the grave.

Are you at peace?

Or are you peacefully detained?

Are you happy where you are?

Or do you wish that you’d been saved?

And what should I do now?

I need an answer from you now.

I want to talk to you, like we used to.

I want to grasp your hand like before.

I want to laugh with you ’till we’re happy but we can’t anymore.

Dear friend,

Inside the earth.

If all life leads to dying, well then what is living worth?

And how can i continue with the smallest bit of mirth?

When I’m so far from you now?

What should I do now?

I want to talk with you like we used to.

I want to grasp your hand like before.

I want to laugh with you ’till we’re happy but I can’t anymore.

I hope that you will get back to me soon.

I’m struggling here to hold on to my head.

I hope you’ll hear me and promptly respond.

I’m a mess, I’m distressed.

Signed with regret.

Dear smile, 

Burned in my mind,

Please don’t forget to tell me what you find.

Is there an afterlife or heaven?

Is the god of judgement kind?

And what should I do now?

I need an answer from you now.

Life and all the world is for the living,

And if there’s one thing that the spirits aren’t forgiving,

It’s wasting precious moments on regretting and reliving,

And so I will talk to you in a new way,

And so I will grasp your hand forever more,

We’ll laugh ’till we’re happy,

‘Cause nothing’s the same anymore.

And that’s what I’ll do now.

I have my answer from you now.

I know you’d want me to move on.