C
I didn’t even know the man
                  Dm
I didn’t know the man himself
                      G
Even though his music filled my life
                   C
As it has so many others

                             C
I knew that he had died that week
                       Dm
After fighting death a year or more
                G
But I had had a rule before
                                 C
That funerals were a waste of flowers

                     Am
But something said I had to go
                       Em
To be a witness to his gift of love
                          F
A man who never once gave up on life
            Dm              G
Until death took him in its tracks

                            C
The people stood around the church
                               Dm
Ten thousand people there they say or more
                    G
Black and white and rich and poor
                                    C
Together they were there to say farewell

                                    C
In New York City it had rained that day
                                Dm
The streets were silver and the sky was gray
                        G
In the church the music sailed and sang
                                        C
And seemed to fill the air with shining sun

              Am
The man was a hero
                    Em
He played the music of our souls
                    F
He knew that we all have in us
              Dm            G
A place where beauty always grows

                       C
Outside in the streets again
                                Dm
The people wandered through the falling rain
                           G
They waved their hands and dried their tears
                                    C
And turned to go about their lives again

                           C
But none of us will be the same
                          Dm
If we hear the things his music says
                   G
That loving is the gift of life
                                C
And making music was his way of love

              Am
The man was a hero
                  Em
He sang the music of our souls
                    F
He knew that we all have in us
              Dm            G
A place where beauty always grows
        C
Always grows