Artist: Ralph Stanley

I looked into the face of an old saint of God,
I thought your race has ended, your lifes crown you've won,
Seperated for the present, but soon to live again,
And he's only gone away with a friend,

Chorus:
Gone away with a friend, someone closer than a brother
with somebody who loves you more than children, dad or mother
And he holds your very soul in the palm of his hand
Let it read on my tombstone, gone away with a friend.

He's a constant companion through life's joy and pain,
All my hopes and cares I hold in his dear name
And when my soul breaks free from these ties that hold me here
I'm going away with Jesus no other friend so dear

Chorus