Seniors descended from their bleachers during the prom assembly in a large mass, sitting cross-legged in a tightly packed clump on the gym floor in anticipation of the 2015 senior song “Old Friends, composed and performed by Ben Johnson and Kota Gottfried.
Johnson and Gottfried first started working together during 7th grade.
“We were both super into music and nobody else was so we just latched on and realized we were really good together,” Gottfried said.
They performed for friends and uploaded their pieces to Soundcloud.
They first decided that they wanted to create their senior song when they heard the class of 2012’s senior song.
“We decided that no matter what we were going to do the senior song even if we hated each other senior year,” Gottfried said.
The two created the song over the space of a few days, working together to create the composition and lyrics.
“We usually write things pretty quickly because it’s better to try to capture what you’re thinking in the moment,” Johnson said.
Because Johnson couldn’t attend the audition, Gottfried showed a video of them performing the piece. Their dream of composing and performing their year’s senior song became a reality.
“When we were setting up I was crazy-nervous,” Gottfried said. “I couldn’t relax. When everyone gathered around and we got up there, I was like ‘we got this.’ We’re just playing piano and guitar in front of our friends.”
KUGR created a music video of “Old Friends” that was shown on the final Seminar Show. The file will soon be uploaded to Johnson and Gottfried’s Soundcloud.
Johnson plans to attend the University of Wisconsin in biomedical engineering.
Gottfried plans to attend Johnson County Community College for auto-engineering. He hopes to design car parts for a living.
“It’s surreal to see time wind down so quickly,” Johnson said. “You leave all the friends behind that you grew up with.”
But as the song itself states, there are no friends like the old friends.

Sidebar: Old Friends

Link to Kota Gottfried and Ben Johnson’s soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/once-we-were-bear

Verse 1:
Sometimes I stare at you in my mind for hours
Counting down the seconds until the day
I’ll drive with my passenger seat empty
And you’ll be just a washed out high school memory

Verse 2:
There was a time when I couldn’t see it any other way
We were kids but we promised we would be something
Made plans to move to the coast and play
But the years kinda wore those dreams away

Chorus:
I thought it was a long while,
guess we should’ve thought about time
and it how it slips away so fast
Long nights, chasing the black skies
Couldn’t figure out why I let this lifetime pass
And this time next year, I’m gonna be a long way from Kansas City baby
Was i meant to stay
were we meant to stay, home?

Verse 3:
Someone prove to me this is not my home.
Won’t you call me when you need me?
I guess you never could believe me anyway.

There’s no friends like the old friends X4

Chorus:
I thought it was a long while,
guess we should’ve thought about time,
and it how it slips away so fast
Long nights, chasing the black skies
Couldn’t figure out why I let this lifetime pass
And this time next year, I’m gonna be a long way from Kansas City baby
Was I meant to stay
Were we meant to stay, home?