"You've Been a Friend to Me" (1867)
Words and Music by
William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907

[Source: 1879-11919@LoC]

1.
My bark of life was tossing down
The troubled stream of time,
When first I say your smiling face,
When youth was in its prime,
Then life's dark hours were turned to light,--
My sorrowed heart was free;
And since that time I've always found
You've been a friend to me.

CHORUS
I'll never forget where e're I roam,
Wherever you may be,
If ever I have had a friend,
You've been that friend to me.

2.
Misfortune nursed me as her child,
And loved me fondly, too;
I would have had a broken heart,
Had it not been for you.
Kind words were whispered softly sweet,
But glad I could not be,
Until I found that you had been
A faithful friend to me.

(CHORUS)

3.
The light of hope from your bright eyes
Dispelled the clouds of strife,
And shed their rays of sunshine down
My weary path in life;
I now look back upon the past,
Across life's stormy sea,
And smile to think, 'mid all life's scenes,
You've been a friend to me.

(CHORUS)