"I Would Have Said Hello"

About the song

Rashad Richardson was a 12-year-old boy killed in a freak accident in Ithaca, New York. Although I never met him, I was moved by the story, enough to go to the memorial service. There, I learned what a beautiful young man Rashad had been... a life full of promise, cut short. I wrote this song from the point of view of a hypothetical classmate who admired Rashad from afar but was too shy to approach him. We go around thinking we have all the time in the world... until we don't.

Lyrics

Hello, hello
I've seen you 'round this place
I never knew your name
I only knew your face

If I hadn't been so shy
I would have said "hello"
When you went walking by
And now you'll never know

I never knew your name
I only knew your smile
If I had said "hello"
We might have talked awhile

If I had only known
How soon your time would end
I would have said "hello"
We could have been such friends

If I had known this would be "goodbye"
I would have said "hello."

Hello, hello, hello.

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