THE FRIENDLY SOCIETY

Words: English, 18c, in Stephen Jenks, The Jovial Songster (1806)
Tune: English, 18c, see DULL CARE (Sacred Harp, p. 98)


Why should we at our lot complain,
 Or grieve at our distress?
Some think if they could riches gain,
 They'd gain true happiness.
Alas! how vain is all their gain,
 Since life will soon decay,
And since we're here with friends so dear,
 We'll drive dull cares away.

Why should the rich despise the poor,
 Why should the poor repine?
A little time will make us all
 In equal friendship join;
They're much to blame: we're all the same;
 Alike we're made of clay;
And since we're here with friends so dear,
 We'll drive dull cares away.

The only circumstance in life
 That ever I could find
To soften cares and temper mirth
 Is sweet content of mind;
Having that store we have much more
 Than wealth could e'er convey,
And since we're here with friends so dear,
 We'll drive dull cares away.

Let's make the best we can of life,
 Nor render it a curse;
But take it as you would a wife:
 For better or for worse;
Life at the best is but a jest,
 A dreary winter's day;
And since we're here with friends so dear,
 We'll drive dull cares away.

When age, old age, comes creeping on,
 And we are young no more,
Let's not repine at what we've done,
 Nor grieve that youth is o'er;
But cheerful be as formerly,
 And innocently gay;
And since we're here with friends so dear,
 We'll drive dull cares away.