很小的時候已經聽過這首歌. 到中學畢業時很多同學都會把這首歌寫在好朋友的紀念冊上以作懷念.

到最近,得知原來作者在寫這首歌的歌詞時,對象並非人,而是人類忠誠好朋友 - 狗狗.

於是我用另外一個角度再去看這首歌的歌詞,即時有另外一個層次的領悟.

You've Got A Friend

最近在網上看到一個真實的case,一位律師叫George Vest在1870年於法庭上的speech一方面令我很感動,另一方面令自私的人類們汗顏:

I never knew the name of the man who wrote this before but I do know the story behind it: It is from a speech made in 1870, when the man's dog, a foxhound named Drum was shot. His owner sued the man who shot Drum. There was no evidence even, but after he finished his speech, the jury was in tears. They fined the man $500, even though the maximum fine was $150.

It is claimed that George Vest was a 19th century lawyer defending a client.

Gentlemen of the jury, the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son and daughter that he has reared with loving care may become ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him when he may need it most. Man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees and do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our head.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his DOG. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground,where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wing and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the cold, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard him against danger, and to fight against his enemies. When the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

-Senator George Vest, 1870.