I didn't even know the man   I didn't know the man himself   Even though his music filled my life   As it has so many others      I knew that he had died that week   After fighting death a year or more   But I had, had a rule before   That funerals were a waste of flowers      But something said, I had to go   To be a witness to his gift of love   A man who never once gave up on life   Until death took him in his tracks      The people stood around the church   Ten thousand people there, they say, or more   Black and white, rich and poor   Together they were there to say farewell      In New York city it had rained that day   The streets were silver and the sky was grey   But in the church the music soared and sang   And seemed to fill the air with shining sun      The man was a hero   He played the music of our souls   He knew that we all have in us   A place where beauty always grows      Outside in the streets again   The people wandered through the falling rain   They waved their hands and dried their tears   And turned to go about their lives again      But none of us will be the same   If we hear the things his music says   That loving is the gift of life   And making music was his way of love      The man was a hero   He played the music of our souls   He knew that we all have in us   A place where beauty always grows