even though it is a traditional folk song, the lead guitarist, the night jfk was assassinated went in and rerecorded lyrics and basically made it a eulogy to john f. kennedy. even though it wasn't a big hit for the birds it was released two years after the assassination. it wasn't a hit but it became a standard when they played live. two years later, people are still shell shocked by this. shows how long the feeling lasted. another iconic one, abraham, martin and john. i knew the song well, never knew that dion did the song. ♪ anyone here see my old friend john ♪ ♪ can you tell me where he's gone ♪ ♪ he freed a lot of people but it seems the good they die young ♪ ♪ i just look around and he's gone ♪