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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