Posted on March 19, 2007 at 7:46 pm

Hi-ho! A real entry will be forthcoming, but in the meanwhile, I’ve gotten several requests like this one:

Irene Garrido Pascual wrote:

I’m a singing teacher in Barcelona. I teach a little girl and I played her your song “What It Means To Be A Friend”, she loves it! And of course, she wants to sing it – it’s difficult to find a song for a nearly-teenage child that isn’t from Annie or something like that, hehehe. But the problem is that I can’t find the lyrics anywhere. I can just try to write the lyrics from listening to the song, but as I am Spanish, it would be quite hard for me.

I know that 13 is very new but, would it be possible to have this lyric, please? We only want to do the song in the classroom.


JRB responds:

Actually, most of the requests I’ve gotten for this song have asked for the sheet music, which just isn’t available yet – in fact, for those of you who know me, you’ll understand when I tell you that the accompaniment hasn’t even been written down.

But, just the lyrics? So you can sing along in the bathtub? Sure! Here they are!

What It Means To Be A Friend (from 13)
Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
©2007 Semolina Farfalle Music Co. (ASCAP) All rights reserved.

A FRIEND’S NOT A CHEAP LITTLE PHONY CREEP
OR A JERK TRYING TO MAKE A DEAL.
A FRIEND IS A PERSON WHO, MOST OF ALL,
CARES ABOUT WHAT YOU FEEL;
AND NOTHING IS HARDER
THAN LEARNING A FRIEND ISN’T REAL.

A FRIEND SENDS NOTES BACK AND FORTH ALL DAY
AND DOESN’T CARE THAT YOU CAN’T SPELL.
A FRIEND KNOWS YOU’VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOUR TEACHER,
BUT A FRIEND WOULD NEVER TELL.
A FRIEND’S OUTSIDE WAITING
THE MINUTE YOU BOTH HEAR THE BELL…

AND IF YOUR HEART IS ALWAYS BREAKING
‘CAUSE THE WORLD IS JUST NOT FAIR,
WHEN YOU’RE AT YOUR WORST,
YOUR FRIEND’S THE FIRST ONE THERE,
GIVING YOU SOMETHING TO LEAN ON –
AND THAT’S WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A FRIEND.

A FRIEND WON’T SMOKE WHEN SHE’S IN YOUR ROOM
OR LAUGH AT THE POEMS YOU WRITE.
A FRIEND WON’T GO AND START KISSING YOUR BROTHER
THE MINUTE THAT YOU’RE OUT OF SIGHT.
A FRIEND IS THE PERSON
YOU CALL SIXTEEN TIMES EV’RY NIGHT…

AND IF YOUR HEART IS ALWAYS BREAKING,
AND YOU WANT TO RUN AND HIDE,
WHEN YOUR HOPE IS GONE,
YOUR FRIEND IS ON YOUR SIDE.
IF SOMEONE MOVES IN ‘ROUND THE CORNER
AND YOU WANT TO SHOW HIM YOU CARE,
SO YOU GIVE HIM ALL YOUR LAST MONTH OF VACATION
AND ALL OF THE TIME YOU CAN SPARE,
AND THEN, ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES,
HE ACTS LIKE YOU’RE NOT EVEN THERE,
THEN HE DOESN’T KNOW…
HE DOESN’T KNOW!
HE’LL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE
A FRIEND.

There you go, folks! Enjoy! I’ll be back soon with lots of news and more stories.