G . . . . . . . . . . Bm
I've been gone fifteen years;
F . . . . . . . . . . . . . Am
Don't know why I came back here.
Look into my glass of beer;
I can't find no answers there. CHORUS:

I had a friend; his name was Fred.
They tell me now he's long been dead.
I thought he was a real cool head.
He was a needle freak, they said.

I walked down past the school,
Where I learned the golden rule.
I thought I was something cool.
I was just like every other fool.

I had a friend; his name was Gene.
He left for some other scene,
Where the grass, it all was green:
San Francisco, New Orleans

The neighborhood, it ain't the same.
They changed the bars; they changed the name.
I left here in search of fame,
But I'm still playing the same old game.