oh listen my dear friends and ill tell you a story about someone i barely knew at all he was a friend of my friends and they told me about him how he had nothing to break his fall he had that bad religion in his blood the kind that brings you down and can never lift you up he was a beautiful young man on the streets of austin he was a ghost faced junkie on the streets of new orleans i could barely recognize him when i saw him he had to look me in the face and say my name before i knew it was him oh buddy i wish id been a better friend what if they only gave you love when you lied its bound to really rip you up inside pressures a person into that horrible mouth that leaves a bloody aftermath everything minus one is everything he treated me with what i considered kindness when i crawled off to sleep in my car he was worried about me when we paid our respects to the moon on the outskirts of austin im sorry to say i was too shy to stay in touch with him oh buddy i wish id been a better friend and i wonder what it takes just to save one little life icarus almost made it back to the shore when i was really down there were three little words from a couple of good people that kept me holding on oh buddy ill never get a chance again oh buddy i wish id been a better friend oh buddy ill never get a chance again oh buddy i wish id been a better friend