If I had been You and You had been Me

You were a boy of about seventeen
When you first came to face to face with me
You were young but you knew more than you should
Still no one knew you and no one could

You were drifting with the tide at night
Waiting for some deadly light
When the dark wind dragged you into the sea
If I had been you and you had been me

We looked for you those who had put you there
I find it hard to know how to believe
With nothing to prove and life waiting somewhere
If I had been you and you had been me

You touched sand with your toes and you staggered to land
And somebody put a gun in your hand
You took on the ghosts who had flit through your dreams
The sky filled with blood and the air gasoline

I looked at my feet and saw you in the mud
You were face down breathing as good as you could
You would tell me about life being so empty
If I had been you and you had been me

I held you in arms still shaking and wet
And you looked up pleadingly
I would have held on forever that day
If I had been you and you had been me

I would have held on forever that day
If I had been you and you had been me.