Intro  Dm  Bb Bb7  Eb  Cm  Fm  Bb Bb7 Eb  Ab  Eb  Bb7 Bb

(recitation, no singing)

Verse 1

Eb          Eb7          Eb  
Friends are never earned
          Eb7                    Eb Ab
They're a gift from the loving God
                                            Ab7
And they're precious beyond human valuation
Bb7                   Bb       Ab
But you dare not take them for granted
Eb
Or they'll drift away like smoke
                        Cm
And the warmth of their caring will vanish
          Cm7                 Dm     Dm7  
Like the chill of the endless nights

Verse 2

Bb                     Bb7      Bb
Most of my friends are unknowns
Eb                              Eb7
And they probably won't rate an obituary
                     Eb                 Eb7
Unless they live and die in small towns
                        Ab      Fm
Where nothing much ever happens
             Db             
But a few of my friends are big people
                Eb                Eb7     Cm
They'd made the world ring with laughter
                     Fm          Bb 
Down to it's gaseous burning core
 Eb             Ab           Eb
They're famous, sensitive,   talented
                         Bb         Eb
And their names are household words
                      Ebm7                   Ab            Bb
Yet they are no more precious in God's eyes    or in mine
                     Eb                   Eb7
Than those wonderful nobodys who live and die in small towns

Verse 3

                    Gm  Cm
Who is your friend?
                 Eb         Eb7       Ab
He's someone who warms you with a nod
               Gm                  Dm
Or with the unspoken word in hard times
                                 Bb
When you're hurting beyond words
            Gm       Bb
Who is your friend?
          Eb
She's someone who holds you to her breast
Eb7                        Ab
And sighs softly into your hair
     Eb7                              Eb
When no other medicine can stop the pain
  Cm                               Db
A friend is someone who clinks his glass against yours

Or answers the phone
   Eb                               Cm
At three in the morning when you're lost
               Fm                     Eb7
And with a few words of encouragement and concern
Bb                                   Eb        Bb  Eb
Makes you realize you aren't really lost at all

Outro

        Bb                        Ab                    Eb
Friends come in both sexes and in all shapes and sizes
                   Cm
The most important thing they have in common
       Fm                                  Bb
Is the ability to share with you your most sky splitting joys
Eb                            Ab      Eb   Ab
Or your deepest, most awesome sorrows
                   Eb       Ab  Eb
For they are your friends