This song has been some years in the making. While I had settled on the chorus since 2002, the tunes for the main verses and bridge came about only more recently. Admittably, I find it the most challenging to write melodies for male duets because I can never seem to get the “feel” right. But having finished “With You As A Friend”, hopefully the next one doesn’t take as long! :)
With You As A Friend
(Jacques and John)
Jacques:
Steadfast and steady, you have been ready,
To offer me your hand.
Picking me up whenever I’m somehow
Stuck deep within quicksand.
When I’m neglected, when I’m dejected,
Left on my own to stand.
When the dust settles, you are still here my friend.
John:
Slowly but surely, I have been purely,
Hoping I’ll understand.
Friendship like ours, through spaces and places,
That will always transcend.
You are the brother, just like no other,
Who’ll be there to the end.
Yet through it all, you have been my one true friend.
John:
When all decried me,
Jacques:
When they denied me,
Both:
Then I had to pretend.
John:
That all was well,
Jacques:
Yet I was in hell,
Both:
With hatred that was not planned.
Then I met you,
And you helped me get through,
Faults that I could not mend.
All things have changed, since I’ve found you as a friend.
John:
With you as a friend,
I will not break, I will not bend.
Jacques:
With you as a friend,
My problems I can apprehend.
John:
With you as a friend,
No burden I cannot withstand.
Both:
With you as a friend.
Jacques:
When my vision’s dark and hazy,
When the lights go out.
John:
When things round me seem so crazy,
When I’m filled with doubt.
Jacques:
You appeared, the things I feared,
Just somehow swept away.
John:
You, my friend, can understand,
The thoughts I don’t relay.
Jacques:
The words that I don’t say…
John:
For you as a friend,
I’ll lay my life down to defend.
Jacques:
With you as a friend,
Someone on whom I can depend.
Both:
With you as a friend,
No need for me to comprehend,
How I found a friend.
With you as a friend.
With you as my friend.
To the end.
