Harry Chapin

Stranger With The Melodies(Chords)

Harry Chapin

Key: D

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	        INTRO:  
 D   D/G  D/E  D/A  
 D   D/G  D/E  D/A  
   
           D  
 It was my first night in that roomin` house,  
        D/G  
 in the last room down the hall.  
           D/E  
 I heard a hoarse voice, and an old guitar,  
 D/A  
 comin` through the paper thin walls.  
 D  
   A crazy nonsense nursery rhyme,  
    D/G  
 it did not mean a thing.  
             D/E  
 But for the first of what was to be a thousand times,  
 D/A  
 this is what I heard him sing.  
 
D Hold that 'D' chord on the old guitar, D/G `till I find the 'G.' D/E Drop it down to old 'E' minor, D/A D D/A `till the 'A' chord rolls back home around to 'D.'
D D/G I had to lay there listening, it seemed he was in the room. D/E D/A The stranger with the melodies, singin` there in the gloom. Bm F And he repeated it over and over again, such a soft and sinking sound. Am Em It was kind of like a music box that was slowly windin` down. F Em And he sang it, he hummed it, he whistled it, and he strummed it. G A A A7 A6 He laughed it, and he cried it. He did anything but hide it.
A D Hold that 'D' chord on the old guitar, D/G `till I find the 'G.' D/E Drop it down to old 'E' minor, D/A D D/A `till the 'A' chord rolls back home around to me.
D D/G So I lay there in that lumpy bed, counted Choruses instead of sheep, D/E D/A `till I banged on the wall and out I called, 'Hey bub, I need some sleep.' D stop pattern, just base G A sudden void of silence, then I heard that hoarse voice say, E A D resume pattern D/A 'It weren`t so long ago, boy, they paid me to play. D D/G So I said, 'It`s kind of late for music, sir. Two hours `till it`s daylight.' D/E D/A He answered, 'I need my music most in these dark hours of the night. Bm F You see I`ve tried gettin` high on somethin`, son; it only brings me down. Am Em Stayin` dry don`t work out better, boy, `cause my eyes get wet and I drown. F Em Won`t you please let me continue, and I`ll be in your debt. G A A A7 A6 You see I`m not singin` to remember, son. I`m just singin` to forget.
A D Hold that 'D' chord on the old guitar, D/G `till I find the 'G.' D/E Drop it down to old 'E' minor, D/A D D strum D strum A `till the 'A' chord rolls back home around to me.
C G That`s when I said, if I`m supposed to listen to you, sir, C G one quick question, then. F C A Why in the hell do you sing one song, over and over again? spoken And this is what he said. D D D D/G I gave her the music, son. She gave me the words. D/E D/A Together we`d write the kinds of songs the angels must have heard. D D/G Of course, we`d fight like cats and dogs; life ain`t no rosebud dream. D/E D/A Still, where ever we`d go, everybody`d know, we were truly a team. D D/G I can`t remember now if I`d done her wrong, or if she`d done wrong to me. D/E D/A Still, all I know is when I let her go, it did not set me free. Bm That`s when I said, 'You sound like what`s-his-name.' F He said, 'That`s who I am. Am But you can`t wrap a name around you boy, Em `cause it really don`t mean a damn. F Em You see, a song don`t have no meanin`, when it don`t have nothin` to say. G A A A7 A6 A What she could do was magic, son. All I can do is play. D He started singin` again, that`s when I drifted off, D/G and maybe I`d dreamed what I`d heard, D/E about the stranger with the melodies, D/A who`d gone and lost the words.
D Hold that 'D' chord on the old guitar, D/G `till I find the 'G.' D/E Drop it down to old 'E' minor, D/A D D final `till the 'A' chord rolls back home around to 'D.'

Written by Harry Chapin

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