|
D F#7 B7
Now they make new movies in old black and white
E7 A7
With happy endings, where nobody fights
D F#7 B7
So if you find yourself in that nostalgic rage
E7 A7
Honey, jump right up and show your age
Chorus
D F#7 B7
I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
E7 A7 D
The "Boston Blackie" kind
D F#7 B7
A two toned Ricky Ricardo jacket
E7 A7
And an autographed picture of Andy Devine
D D7
Oh I remember bein' buck-toothed and skinny
G Bb
Writin' fan letters to Sky's niece Penny
D F#7 B7
Oh I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
E7 A7 D
Then I could solve some mysteries too
Bridge:
Em B7 Em B7
Oh it's Bandstand, Disneyland, growin' up fast
Em B7 Em
Drinkin' on a fake I.D.
F#m C7 F#m C7
And Rama of the jungle was everyone's Bawana
E7 A7
But only jazz musicians were smokin' marijuana
D F#7 B7
Yeah, I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
E7 A7 D
then I could solve some mysteries too
(same as above chords with this verse)
But then it's flat top, dirty bob, coppin' a feel
Grubbin' on the livin' room floor (so sore)
Yeah, they send you off to college, try to gain a little knowledge,
But all you want to do is learn how to score
D F#7 B7
Yeah, but now I'm gettin' old, don't wear underwear
E7 A7
I don't go to church and I don't cut my hair
D F#7 B7
But I can go to movies and see it all there
E7 A7 D
Just the way that it used to be
Chorus
That's why I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
The "Boston Blackie" kind, a two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket
And an autographed picture of Andy Devine
Oh, I could be anyone I wanted to be
Maybe suave Errol Flynn or a Sheik of Arabie
If I only had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could do some cruisin' too
D
Yeah, Bryl-cream, a little dab'll do yah
E7 A7 D
Oh, I could do some cruisin' too
Chord diagrams: E7 - |o2o1oo| A7 - |xo2o2o|
B7 - |x212o2| F#7- |xx432o|
F#m - |244222| Bb - |113331| C7 - |x3231o|
Note: play in G, capo 2nd fret
G C
Headin' up to San Francisco
D G
For the Labor Day week-end show,
C
I've got my hush-puppies on I guess I
D G
Never was meant for glitter rock and roll
Am C D D7
And, honey, I didn't know, that I'd be missin' you so
Chorus
C G
Come Monday it'll be all right
C D
Come Monday I'll be holdin' you tight
G Bm C D
I spent four lonely days in a brown L. A. haze
C D G
And I just want you back by my side
Yes, it's been quite a summer
Rent-a-cars and west-bound trains
And now you're off on vacation
Somethin' you tried to explain
And darlin', it's I love you so
That's the reason I just let you go
(Repeat chorus)
Bridge:
Amaj7 Dmaj7 Amaj7 Dmaj7
I can't help it honey, you're that much a part of me now
Amaj7 Dmaj7
Remember that night in Montana
C / / C / / D F C G
when we said there'd be no room for doubt
I hope you're enjoyin' the scen'ry
I know that it's pretty up there
We can go hikin' on Tuesday
With you I'd walk anywhere
California has worn me quite thin
I just can't wait to see you again
(Repeat chorus)
G Bm C D
I spent four lonely days in a brown L. A. haze
C D F C G
And I just want you back by my side...
Chord diagrams: Amaj7=|x02120| Dmaj7=|xx0222|
Intro D D/C D/B D/A E7 A7 D
D D/C D/B D/A E7 A7 D
Chorus
D E7
Ringling, Ringling slippin' away
G D
Only forty people livin' there today
D E7
Streets are dusty, and the bank has been torn down
G A7 D
It's a dyin' little town
D E7
Church window's broken, that place ain't been used in years
G A7 D
Jail don't have a sheriff or a cell
E7
And electric trains, they run by maybe once or twice a month
G A7 D
Easin' it on down to Mussel Shell
(Repeat chorus)
Bridge:
A
And across from the bar there's a pile of beer cans
D
Been there twenty seven years
E7 A7
Imagine all the heartaches and tears in 27 years of beer
So we hopped back in the rent-a-car and we hit the cruise control
Pretty soon the town was out of sight
But we left behind a fat barmaid, a cowboy and a dog
Bracin' for a Ringling Friday night
Chorus
Ringling, Ringling you're just slippin' away
I wonder how many people will be there a year from today
Cause the streets are dusty and the bank has been torn down
It's a dyin' little town
G A7 D (intro chords)
Yeah, it's a dyin' little town
Intro G Am7 D G Am7 D
G Am7 D G Am7 D
I'd like to ride the rodeo, but I've got brahma fear
G Am7 D G Am7 D
So I'll just stick to aeroplanes, gently pop my ears
F C G F C D
Drink a lot of whiskey, it gives me such a glow
G Am7 D Am D G
It makes me quite immobile, but it lets my feelings show
C D G
And I'm somewhere below the spotlight
C D Em
Somewhere below the ground
C A7
You dig deep enough you might find me
C D G
Find me and you've found my sound
Yes I own a whaler boat, it slides across the sea
And some folks say I'm part of it
And I know it's part of me
When I'm feeling solitaire, it lets me be alone
And when I want to habitate, it carries me back home
Chorus
And I'm somewhere below the sunlight
Somewhere upon the sea
You dig deep enough, you might find me
Find me, 'cause that's where I'll be
Yes I'll drink a lot of whiskey
It gives me such a glow
It makes me quite immobile, but it lest my feelings show
Yes, it makes me quite immobile,
But it lets my feelings show
Intro G D G
C G
Well he outgrew his sequined suit, sold his Trailways bus
A
Let his hair get a little too long
D G D
His ducktail's bit the dust
C G
His custom made, pearl-inlaid guitar slipped from his hand
A D G D
And in its place a new electrical one he had flown in from Japan
Chorus
C
'Cause he's a cheeseburger eatin', abandoned Sunday meetin'
G
Brand new country star
A
He rides around in a Lincoln Continental
D G D
Those steer horns on his car
C
Oh, the record men say he's livin' end
G
They're gonna spin him right to the top
A
Yeah he's a hot roman candle from the Texas panhandle
C D G
He can either go country or pop
Got a good old friend name of Texas Ben,
Tells him all the spots to play
And a sweet little lady, he calls her Sexy Sadie
She's with the boy night and day
They're gonna open up a chain of fancy bowlin' lanes
The first one in his old hometown
And on ribbon-cuttin' day they'll come from miles away
The folks'll all gather 'round and sing
(Repeat chorus)
Intro E
B7 E B7 E
Nothing is different, nothing's changed at all
Ebm E B7 A E
Livingston's gone to Texas, they say he had a ball
Chorus
A G D
They say he learned to be a cowboy
A G D
They say he learned to rope and ride
Bm G A7 D
But I wonder if he ever thinks about the tears his woman cried
Now Holly, won't you let me
Try and make you smile
You loved him as if he were your husband
Now he'll be gone awhile
Chorus
Wrote he had to see the country
On starry nights he wished you were there
And so would show wherever he goes
Deep inside you know he really cares
And nothin' is different, nothin's changed at all
Livingston's still in Texas
Snow's about to fall
Chord diagrams: D#m - |xx4342|
Intro G C G G C G
G
The ice cream man he's a hillbilly fan
He's got seventy-eights by Hank Snow
C
Walks down the street, shufflin' his feet
G
To the rhythm that only he knows
Bm C
And I've seen him in so many places
Bm F D
I saw him on the night I was born
D G
In a Bourbon Street bar, I received my first scar
D C G
From an old man so tattered and torn
Chorus
C
And the wino and I know the pain of street singin'
G
Like the door-to-door salesman knows the pains of bell ringin'
D C
Strange situation, wild occupation
G
Livin' my life like a song
The coffee is strong at the Cafe Du Monde
And the donuts are too hot to touch
But just like a fool, when those sweet goodies cool
I eat till I eat way too much
'Cause I'm livin' on things that excite me
Be they pastry or lobster or love
I'm just tryin' to get by being quiet and shy
In a world full of pushin' and shove
Chorus
And the wino and I know the pain of back bustin'
Like the farmer knows the pain of his pickup truck rustin'
Strange situation, wild occupation
Livin' my life like a song
D C G
Sweet sen~orita won't you please come with me
D C G
Back to the island honey, back to the sea
D C D
Back to the only place that I want to be
Chorus
And the wino and I know the joy of the ocean
Like a boy knows the joy of his milkshake in motion
Strange situation, wild occupation
Livin' my life like a song
Yes it's a strange situation, wild occupation
Livin' my life like a song
Intro C F G C F G
C F G C
Standin' on side of the Highway 4 exit
C F G C
A Lady in a tie-dye with a bag by her side
C F G C
Not really lookin' like anything special
C F G C
Saw Tennessee tags and she waved for a ride
Sat right beside me as the 'meter hit sixty
'Splainin' her travels and her family background
When she got through, I could not help but thinkin'
She's a long way from the west Nashville grand ballroom gown
Chorus
G D G
Father had money and her mother had love
D G
Channeled entirely to her dear sister Dove
D G
Twenty-two years in society's plan
F D
Was cancelled with a swing of her dear mother's hand
Six hours later, we hit Cincinatti
Yawnin' she woke and then asked where we were
When she found out, she said, "I must be goin'"
This close to Nashville was too close for her
So I stopped by the roadside and I gave her five dollars
She took it then kissed me and gave me a note
She told me just to read it and mail it Nashville
On old looseleaf paper to her mother she wrote:
Chorus
She said: Mama, I'm fine, if you happen to wonder
I don't have much money but I still get around
I haven't made church in near thirty-six Sundays
So fuck all those west Nashville grand ballroom gowns
(she's a long way from the west Nashville grand ballroom gown)
E A E
I cut my teeth on Gumbo rock, Benny Spellman and Dr. John
Sweet Erma Thomas and Frogman Henry
B
Used to boogie woogie all night long
A
Though I love rock n' roll the acoustic guitar
E
Was the only way I had of becomin' a star
A
I'm doin' really nice and travellin' around
B A B
But they won't play my record in my old home town
Chorus
E A
But if I had saxophones
E
Yeah, big baritone cleanin' up the muddy breaks
A
If I had saxophones
B A
I could get some recognition from that Mobile, Alabama D.J.
Livin' by the ocean, sometimes I get the notion
To take my Janey downtown
We hang out in a funky little bar
They call it the "Shipwreck Lounge"
Well we get kind of drunk and we play rock n' roll
Grabbin' everybody right down in his soul
When we get to cookin' somethin's still wrong
There's still somethin' missin' from them good ole songs
Chorus
But if we had saxophones
Big baritone cleanin' up the muddy breaks
If we had saxophones
I could make that joint shimmy like a big California earthquake
Yeah if we had saxophones
Yeah, big baritone cleanin' up the muddy breaks
If we had saxophones
I could get some recognition from that Mobile, Alabama D.J.
"Well, like I explained to y'all before I ain't no drinkin' man.
I tried it once, and it got me highly irregular
and I swore I'd never do it again.
But I promised my brother-in-law that I'd go up and watch
his still while he went into town to vote.
It was right up on the mountain where the map said it would be.
Friends let me tell you one thing though,
it wadn't no ordinary still.
It stood up that mountainside like...
like a huge golden opal,
God's yellar moon was a' shinin' on the cool clear evenin',
God's little lanterns just a' twinklin' on and off in the heavens
and, like I explained to you once before, I ain't no drinkin' man,
But, temptation got the best of me, and I took a slash...
(wshew!... woah...)
That yellar whiskey runnin' down my throat like
honeydew vine water, and I took another slash.
Took another and another and another,
'fore you knew it I'd downed one whole jug o' that shit
and commenced to get hot flashes.
Goosepimples was runnin' up and down my body and a feelin' came
over me like, somethin' I'd never experienced before,
It's like, like I was in love,
("why don't we have a little love Mike [Utley]")
In love for the first time, with anything that moved.
Animate, in-animate it didn't matter.
It's like there's a great neon sign flashin' on and off in my
brain sayin, "Jimmy Buffett there's a great day a comin'..."
'Cause I was drunk.
Now I wadn't, uh, knee-crawlin', slip-slidin', reggy-youngin',
commode-huggin' drunk, I was God's own drunk, and a fearless man;
And that's when I first saw the bear.
He was a Kodiak lookin' fella 'bout 19 feet tall
he rambled up over the hill 'spectin' me to do one of two
things: flip or fly, I didn't do either one. It hung him up.
He starts sniffin' 'round my body tryin' to smell fear,
but he ain't gonna smell no fear, 'cause I'm God's own drunk
and a fearless man. It hung him up.
He looked me right in my eyes and my eyes was a
lot redder than his was. It hung him up.
So I approached him and I said, "Mr. Bear, I love every hair on
your 27 acre body. I know you got a lotta friends over there on
the other side of the hill. There's ole' Rear Bear, Tall Bear,
Freddy Bear, Kelly Jair, Relly Bear, Smelly the Bear, Smokey
the Bear, Pokey the Bear; I want you to go back over there
tonight and tell 'em I'm feelin' right. You tell 'em I love each
and every one of 'em like a brother and a sister; but if they
give me any trouble tonight, I'm gonna run every Goddamned one of
'em off the hill."
He took two steps backwards and didn't know what to think.
Neither did I, but, being charitable and cautious,
well hell, I approached him again.
I said, "Mr. Bear, you know in the eyes of the Lord, we're both
beasts when it comes right down to it. So I want you to be my
buddy, 'Buddy Bear.'"
So I took ole' Buddy Bear by his island sized paw
and I led him over to the still.
Now he's a' sniffin' around that thing 'cause he's smellin'
somethin' good.
I gave him one of them jugs of honeydew vine water, he downed it
upright, (looked like a big damn bear in the circus sippin'
sasparilly in the moonlight.)
I gave him another and another and another
'fore I knew it, he'd downed eight of 'em and commenced
to do the "bear dance." Two sniffs, a snort, a fly, a turn
and a grunt; and it was so simple like the jitterbug it plumb
evaded me.
And we worked ourselves into a tumultuous uproar
and I's awful tired, went over to the hillside, and I laid down,
went to sleep, slept for 4 hours, and dreamt me some tremulous dreams
And when I woke up, Oh, there was God's yellar moon a' shinin'
on the clear cool evenin'.
And God's little lanterns just a' twinklin' on and off in the heavens,
And my buddy the bear was a' missin'...
|
