A wonderful lady whom I admire very much, by the name of Moms Mabley, sung a song about a lot of great men
But you know, somehow I still feel that there's a lot of great men to be sung about
I've got some friends, ladies & gentlemen, who have gone home before me
& I hope you don't mind if I take a little time now to tell you about them

Anybody here seen my friend Nat King Cole?
Can you tell me where Nat has gone?
The last thing I heard him say, he was gonna look back over his life
& before he could do it, he was gone
Oh before he could do it, he was gone

& has anybody here seen my friend Sam Cooke
Can anybody tell me where Sam has gone?
The last thing he told me, that a change was gonna come
But before he could see it, he was gone
Oh before he could see it, he was gone

I've got another friend by the name of Otis Redding
Can anybody tell me where Otis has gone?
Last time I saw him, he was sittin' down by the dock of the bay
I looked around for Otis & he was gone
I looked around & my friend Otis Redding was gone

Hmmmm hmmmm oh I have to moan about it sometime, hmmmm
& that makes me know I've got to leave here one day
But I don't worry about it, for you know why
I've got friends, oh yes I have, waitin' on me
You know what they're gonna say when I get there?
They will say, "Come on in, Pickett. Sit down & rest awhile
I know you're tired; I know you came from a mighty long ways
I know you've had hard times, I know you had to give up life for long
Come on in, don't worry no more, we will stand by you, we will never let you down
Come on in, come on in, sit down, sit down"