Tom: C
C
[Verse]
F C
It was winter time in Nashville down on Music City Row
G F
I was lookin' for a place to get myself out of the cold
G C Am F
To warm the frozen feelin' that was eatin' at my soul
G C
And keep the chilly winds off my guitar
F C
My thirsty wanted whiskey but my hungry needed beans
G F
But I guess it'd been a month of payday since I'd heard that eagle scream
G C Am F
So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams
G C Am
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar
F Dm
Actually I guess you'd call it a tavern
G C
Cigarette smoke to the ceiling sawdust on the floor friendly shadows
[Verse]
F C
I saw that there was just an old man sittin' at the bar
G F
In the mirror I could see him checkin' me and my guitar
G C Am F
He said come up here boy show us what you are
G C
I said I'm dry he bought me a beer
F C
He nodded at my guitar said it's a tough life ain't it I just looked at him
G F G7
And he said you ain't makin' any money are you? I said you been readin' my mail
C Am
He just smiled and said let me see that guitar
F
I got somethin' you oughta hear
G C
then he laid it on me
[Chorus]
C F
If you waste your time a talkin' to the people who don't listen
C G
To the things that you are sayin' who do you thinks gonna hear
C F
And if you should die explainin' how the things that they complain about
C G C
are things they could be changing who do you thinks gonna care
G F C
There were lots of other singers in the world turned deaf and blind
F C G
Who were crucified for what they tried to show
C F C
Now their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time
G C
And the truth remains that no one wants to know
[Verse]
C
F C
Well the old man was a stranger but I'd've heard his song before
G F
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door
G C Am G
No one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor
F G
And lonesome was more than a state of mind
C F C
You see the devil haunts a hungry man
G
And if you don't want to join him well he's gotta figure out someway to beat him
F G C Am F
And I ain't sayin' I beat the devil but I drink his beer for nothin'
G C
And then I stole his song
[Chorus]
C F
You can still hear me singin' to the people who don't listen
C G
To the things that I am sayin' prayin' someone's gonna hear
C F
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about
C G C
Are things they could be changin' hopin' someone's gonna care
G F C
I was born to be a singer and I'm bound to die the same
F C G
But I've got to feed this hunger in my soul
C F C
If I never have a nickel I won't even die in shame
G C Am F G C
'Cause I don't believe that someone wants to know
