Loudon Wainwright III Somebody Else lyrics

Somebody else I knew just died
Went away of all flesh, but I can't say I cried
When I heard the sad news about him
I thought, “he's off the hook, you're up next, Jim”
Somebody else I knew just died

Somebody else I knew just passed
We might be built for speed, but we're not made to last
And in the end a machine's obsolete
And a life is a thing death will defeat
Somebody else I knew just passed

He was a guy, just somebody I knew
Once he paid me a compliment, right out of the blue
I was so relieved it was he who was dead
Just a guilty survivor, could've been me instead


Somebody else I knew is gone
Ah, you don't see it coming, but you know all along
Still you can't quite believe that it's true
How could such a thing really happen to you?
Somebody else I knew is gone

Somebody else I knew is dead
That's all she wrote, what else is said?
He's not here, but soon we'll join him
Now he's off the hook, you're up next, Jim
Somebody else I knew is dead

Oh, somebody else I knew just passed