Category: acoustic

capo 3, play in A | notes

there was a time not long ago
when a man’s word was his bond
if you shook on the deal it was signed and sealed
but those days are gone
seems these days you can’t trust anyone
to do what they said they would
the world has moved on good old days are gone
and I’m afraid they’re gone for good

I wanna ride off into the sunset
like a cowboy in the old west
I got no use for what’s goin’ on here
and I think it’d be for the best

there was a time not long ago
when a man really owned his own stuff
what he built with his hands, his home and his land
even when times were tough
seems these days it’s all just on loan
from a fellow down at the bank
but if we can’t pay and he takes it away
he says we’ve only ourselves to thank

chorus

there was a time young folks cared
to hear what an old man said
they showed concern for the lessons he’d learned
from the kind of life that he led
seems these days they don’t care what he knows
or if he’s got something to say
they couldn’t care less and I have to confess
that I’d rather just ride away

chorus
I got no use for what’s goin’ on here
and I think it’d be for the best

bass notes

T-C / C G during intro story

C           G    C         G
there was a time not long ago
       F     C            C    G
when a man’s word was his bond
       F            C           C          G      C
if you shook on the deal it was signed and sealed
    C              G    D
but those days are gone
C           G              C        G
seems these days you can’t trust anyone
   F            C         C     G
to do what they said they would
    F               C       C            G
the world has moved on good old days are gone
         C             G        C
and I’m afraid they’re gone for good

there was a time not long ago
when a man really owned his own stuff
what he built with his hands, his home and his land
even when times were tough
seems these days it’s all just on loan
from a fellow down at the bank
but if we can’t pay and he takes it away
he says we’ve only ourselves to thank

there was a time young folks cared
to hear what an old man said
they showed concern for the lessons he’d learned
from the kind of life that he led
seems these days they don’t care what he knows
or if he’s got something to say
they couldn’t care less and I have to confess
that I’d rather just ride away

capo 1 D
rocks and stones aplenty
enough to build a house if you’d a mind
though why you would beyond me
sunsets like the hand of God
clouds to flood the land if they’d a mind
but they never do they never do

a growing sickness creeping through the land
people doing things I cannot understand
I’ll stay just as long as I can
this ain’t no country for an old man

old folks raising grandkids; what happens
when the grandkids have their own?
who’s raising them? where does it end?
sky don’t seem as blue as when
I came out here in 53
might just be me it’s probably me
chorus

what’s lacking can’t be counted
what’s crooked won’t go straight
I’m picking one star
and I’m gonna follow it out the gate and down the road
chorus

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” spends a lot of time talking about what’s wrong with the world, and making a lot of sense.

The ‘country’ McCarthy referred to in Bell’s monologues was the region he lived in, not a geopolitical entity.

I intentionally sang it in too low a key to get the sound I wanted.

A children’s singalong I’m hoping is also witty enough for grownups.

Protect your pints.

capo 6 1-4-5 in A

notes
Em
we’ll be together
D
now and forever
Em D
like the sea and the earth and the sky
Em
yes we’ll live forever
D
always together
Em D Em
my golden-haired lady and I
Em D Em

capo 4

When writing about deep emotional trauma inflicted by those we should have been able to trust it helps to keep abstracting until there are no emotion words left, only the images they evoked.

A few years ago, memories of some childhood trauma surfaced and messed me up for a while.

Music is a safe way to rage at people.

capo 2, 1-5-4 in D
Never once have you asked me to move out
Even when my temperament might be characterized as extreme

We sweep away the blues and the grey I see it every day
And like you always say We make a great team

I love cooking, and you’re good at business
And it works for us, unorthodox as it might seem

chorus

you keep me grounded, anchored to earth
but you still come along for the ride when I’m chasing some dream

chorus

you and me, me and you, we make quite a pair, we two
me and you, you and me
I know you know that’s how it’ll always be

I’m nuts and you’re dark chocolate
I’m a dark roast coffee and you’re the cream

chorus, then
And like you always say We make a great team

C
old men have had the time to think about tomorrow
old men know what it’s like to wonder how it ends
stick around too long
everyone you knew is gone
old men feel the hole left by so many friends

old men have had the time to think about what truth is
old men know what it’s like to wonder what to say
they’d like to fix up all the hurt
before they get low in the dirt
old men feel tomorrow creeping into yesterday

and someday when I’m old
I’ll think of all the lies I’ve told
and maybe let go of all the things an old man didn’t know

old men have had the time to think about forgiveness
old men know what it’s like to learn to live alone
they didn’t plan to find
the path that’s now behind
old men feel the thorns of every seed they’ve ever sown

old men have had the time to think about tomorrow