Richard Thompson : Misc: Acoustic

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

D

Sometimes I long for the solitary life

G

Parents long gone, no kids, no wife

A

G

Sister somewhere in Australia

D

G

D

Never did keep in touch Sex no more than a "how do you do" With a copy of Penthouse in the loo Socially a bit of a failure Nice not to have to try too much

D

A solitary life

G

D

A life of small horizons

Em

C

G

D

Dull as the pewter skies over North West Eleven A solitary life A life of small horizons Dull as the gun-metal sky over North West Eleven A serious hobby in the garden shed Model trains, or soldiers in lead Join the suburban boffins of Britain Experts on trivial things And holidays in the Yorkshire Dales Or cycling tours of the North of Wales Unenvious of those flea-bitten On continental flings A solitary life A life of small horizons Dull as the pewter skies over North West Eleven Excitement comes by subtle means The satisfaction of routines Small revenges at the office Smug little victories You work on your pallor, complexion like paste Like the grey defeat on an inmate's face A life spent adding losses and profits Resigning by degrees A solitary life A life of small horizons Dull as the pewter skies over North West Eleven A solitary life A life of small horizons Dull as the gun-metal skies over North West Eleven And come to the end, sad and alone A steady, reliable tumour you've grown From selfish years, while all your peers Have stressfully jogged to health In life you were always quite numb And foggier now, you soon succumb In drab St. Bart's on the new bypass Death overcomes by stealth A solitary life A life of small horizons Dull as the pewter sky over North West Eleven A solitary life A life of small horizons Dull as the gun-metal sky over North West Eleven

Em7b5 xx2333

Dm

A7

Dm

We were heroes them, and the girls were all pretty

Dm

And a uniform was a lucky charm

Bb7

A7

Bought you the key to the city

F

We used to dance the whole night through

Bb7

Eb7

While Al Bowlly sang, "The Very Thought of You"

Em7b5

A7

Dm

Al Bowlly's in heaven, and I'm in limbo now I gave my youth to King and country But what's my country done for me But sentenced me to misery I traded my helmet and my parachute For a pair of crutches and a de-mob suit Al Bowlly's in heaven, and I'm in limbo now

F

C

F

C

Hard times, hard hard times

F

C

F

C

Hostels and missions and dosser's soup lines

F

C

F

C

Can't close me eyes on a bench or a bed

Bb7

A7

For the sound of some battle raging in my head Old friends, You lose so many You get run around all over town The wear and the tear of it just drag you down St Mungo's with its dirty old sheets Beats standing all day down on Scarborough Street Al Bowlly's in heaven, and I'm in limbo now Can't stay here, got to foot slog Once in a blue moon, you might find a job Sleep in the rain, sleep in the snow When the beds are all taken, you've got nowhere to go I can see me now, back there on the dance-floor With a blonde on me arm, red head to spare Spit on me shoes and shine in me hair And there's Al Bowlly, up on the stand That was a voice, and that was a band Al Bowlly's in heaven, and I'm in limbo now

G

D

Once there was a son

Am

C

Among the gorse, among the grey

G

D

And wondrous dreams he spun

Am

C

Among the gorse, among the grey

G

And he chased the clouds

C

And he kissed the wind

Bm

D

Barefoot and bloody at the knee

Em

It is, he said

C

D

Em

As if the world was made for me

G

D

And the elders gathered round

Am

C

Among the gorse, among the grey

G

D

And they staked him to the ground

Am

C

Among the gorse, among the grey

G

And they sucked the joy

C

From his beating heart

Bm

D

They washed his eyes with rue

Em

Now come, they said

C

D

Em

Come to the world we made for you

Em

D

Em

Fergus Laing is a beast of a man

G

A

Em

He stitches up and fleeces

Em

D

Em

He wants to manicure the world

G

A

Em

And sell it off in pieces

G

He likes to build his towers high

A

He blocks the sun out of the sky

Bm

A

In the penthouse the champagne's dry

Em

And slightly gassy Fergus Laing, he works so hard As busy as a bee is Fergus Laing has seventeen friends All as dull as he is His seventeen friends have seventeen wives All the perfect shape and size They wag their tails and bat their eyes Just like Lassie

A

Fergus Laing he builds and builds

Em

Yet small is his erection

A

Fergus Laing has a fine head of hair

Em

D

When the wind's in the right direction

C

B7

The wind's in the right direction Fergus Laing and his seventeen friends They live inside a bubble There they withdraw and shut the door At any sign of trouble Should the peasants wail and vent And ask him where the money went He'll simply say, it's all been spent On being classy Fergus' buildings reach the sky Until you cannot see 'em He thinks the old stuff he pulls down Belongs in a museum His own fair home is on the Park An airy jewel, a city ark Hung with Picasso, hung with Braque But nothing brassy Fergus Laing he builds and builds Yet small is his erection Fergus Laing has a fine head of hair When the wind's in the right direction The wind's in the right direction

D

A

Oh she dressed in the dark and she whispered Amen

D

G/b

A

G/b

She was pretty in pink, like a young girl again

D

A

Twenty years married, but she never thought twice

D

G/b

A

D

She sneaked out the door and walked into the night

A

G/b

D

And silver wings carried her over the sea

A

G/b

D

From the west coast of Ireland to west Tennessee

D

A

To be with her sweetheart she left everything

D

G/b

A

D

From Galway to Graceland to be with the King She was humming "Suspicion", that's the song she liked best She had "Elvis I love you" tattooed on her breast They landed in Memphis, her heart beat so fast She'd dreamed for so long, now she'd see him at last She was down by his graveside day after day Come closing time they would drag her away To be with her sweetheart, she left everything From Galway to Graceland to be with the King They came in the thousands, from the whole human race To pay their respects at his last resting place Ah but blindly she knelt there and she told him her dreams And she thought that he answered, or that's how it seemed And they dragged her away, it was handcuffs this time She said my dear man, are you out of your mind? Can't you see that we're married? I'm wearing his ring I've come from Galway to Graceland to be with the King From Galway to Graceland to be with the King

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

Sweet thing, believe me You'll never deceive me You stared me down without blinking That's when I really started thinking You must have been running around You must have been running around 'Cause you were smiling Your friends say you're antsy For something fancy Like a caged bird that's broken free You want to fly high and mess on me Well, I know you've got a secret or two Your hair's in a brand new 'do And you're so happy Good things happen to bad people Good things happen to bad people But only, but only for a while You cried the day I walked you down the aisle And I know you've been bad from the way you smile Mona Lisa, what a teaser What's that strange cologne I'm smelling ? You know more than you're telling Well, I know you been running around I know you must have been running around 'Cause you're so happy Good things happen to bad people Good things happen to bad people But only, but only for a while You cried the day I walked you down the aisle And I know you've been bad from the way you smile Good things happen to bad people Good things happen to bad people But only, but only for a while You cried the day I walked you down the aisle And I know you've been bad from the way you smile

Well you know, I can't do nothing for you And you know, I say my piece and then I'll pound that pavement always wishing That I could live my life again Well I raised some Cain and sank some whiskey Well I ram like a mainsail There's arms I've held and hearts I've broken If I could live my life again And I hate the four walls of this prison Those cowards let me take the blame I swear I'll run with better company If I could live my life again And you know, true slipped through my fingers Somehow I never could explain Next time I'll say just what I'm thinking If I could live my life again And I wish that my sins could be forgiven That's why I sing this old refrain Just one more chance is all I'm asking If I could live my life again If I could live my life again

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

Dm

Johnny's joined a ceilidh band They're known quite well throughout the land: the Drones The Drones are signed up on a cruise While Tracey's laying in the booze back home

Bb

She's got herself another man, a smoothie While the kids are in the front room watching movies

F

She's got him in a head lock, in an arm lock, in a jam

Am

She says, "I can't express myself with my old man"

Dm

G

Bb

C5

Bb

C5

While Johnny's far away on the rolling, rolling

Dm

G

Bb

C5

Dm

Johnny's far away on the rolling sea Johnny's far away on the rolling, rolling Johnny's far away on the rolling sea

G

Dm

On the rolling sea, on the rolling sea

C

Bb

On the rolling sea, on the rolling sea Johnny's cruising out to sea And he believes in chastity - for some The wealthy widows bill and coo He fends off one or two, and then succumbs As they're turning hard-a-port in the Bahamas He's turning her right out of her pyjamas He's turned her every which way to the rhythm of the sea He says, I can't express myself with my old lady While Johnny's far away on the rolling, rolling... Johnny's home, he opens up his door While someone's sneaking out the back And Tracey says, you look so poorly Sores and all, you need to see the quack She wipes the snot from off the kiddies' noses He charms her with eleven battered roses And by and by they get down to the job of man and wife Back to the old comforts of the missionary life While Johnny's far away on the rolling, rolling...

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

D

D/c#

He was a species on the verge of extinction

D/c

B7

She was an Air New Zealand hostess

Em

Em(maj7)

They were mystically joined, like Rawicz and Landauer

Em7

A

Like Pinky and Perky, like Porgy and Bess Oh he loved the pursuit and the romance But the details were more of a chore When the bride's veil lifted, his mind soon drifted At least that's what happened before

D

D/c#

Let it blow, let it snow

G/b

A

Let the mercury bubble and dive

Bb

F

Life's little traumas and courtroom dramas

Gm

A

Remind me I'm glad I'm alive Oh she loved the clinking of glasses When the toast was to nobles and princes In the conjugal nest she was seen at her best With her keen eye for curtains and chintzes She had all of the furniture ordered By the time they were naming the date And her mother came speeding from distant Dunedin To help with the flowers and cake Let it blow... At the Chapel of Partial Remembrance The ushers went into a seizure Mr Bacchus, they said, should we stand on our heads Would sackcloth and ashes displease you? And they honeymooned down in Ibiza Where the sun and the nightlife were hot As she lay on the sand, he said, isn't it grand? I bring all of my wives to this spot Let it blow... A life of volcanic activity Left him nothing to spout but hot air A long interruption since his last eruption Was disguised by sheer devil-may-care But some charm and some skill and manoeuvre Had him rising to meet the occasion And for once, they found bliss, but news of their tryst Got to Fleet Street, and caused a sensation Let it blow... The Press was baying for blood now They gave them a week at the most We were all glad to see it reach weeks two and three But the fourth week, the whole thing was toast And she dragged her tail back to New Zealand With threats of High Court and revenge Meanwhile his eye did stray to the ample bustier Of a novelty dancer from Penge Let it blow...

From the "Rogue's Gallery" collection.

Capo:

V

C

Heel your ho, boys, let 'em go, boys

G

F

Heave her head round into the weather

G

C

Heel your ho, boys, let 'em go, boys

G

C

Sailing homeward to Mingulay

C

What care we how white the Minch is?

G

F

What care we, boys, for windy weather?

G

C

When we know that every inch is

G

C

Closer homeward to Mingulay Heel your ho, boys, let 'em go, boys Heave her head round into the weather Heel your ho, boys, let 'em go, boys Sailing homeward to Mingulay

Instrumental verse

Wives are waiting at the pier head Gazing seaward from the heather Heave her head round and we'll anchor 'Ere the sun sets on Mingulay Heel your ho, boys, let 'em go, boys Heave her head round into the weather Heel your ho, boys, let 'em go, boys Sailing homeward to Mingulay Sailing homeward to Mingulay

Instrumental verse x2

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

Capo:

III

D

A

F#m

G

As I was a-walking down by old Thames side

D

/f#

G

A

Well my foot and my heart seemed to falter

D

A

F#m

G

For there you were standing by Custom House Landing

Am

G/b

D

(

G/b

D

) Like Venus risen out of the water

D

G/b

D

G

And they'll say it's because I'm a fool in love

D

/f#

G

A

That I swear there's no beauty before you

D

A

F#m

G

But those that deny will think that I lie

Am

G/b

D

(

G/b

D

) Well those are the ones never saw you Oh there never was anyone perfect as you As you stood there and smiled to greet me And I looked for a phrase to capture your ways But that's a task will always defeat me And they'll say it's because I'm a fool in love That I swear there's no beauty before you But those that deny or think that I lie Well those are the ones never saw you If the lady's for turning then London's for burning Let's drink to the streets we were born in We'll dine and we'll dance ourselves into a trance Till the night fades into the morning And they'll say it's because I'm a fool in love That I swear there's no beauty before you But those that deny or think that I lie Well those are the ones never saw you

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

Capo:

V

C

F

G

C

F

C

E|---------|--------------|-------------h---------|------------------|---------|

B|---------|--------------|-------1--5-353--------|------------------|---------|

G|-0---0---|-2------2-----|-2--4-----------5-4----|-0----------------|-----0---|

D|---0---0-|----3-----3---|---------------------7-|---0-2--0-0--2----|---------|

A|-3---3---|--------------|-----------------------|-3--------------3-|-2---3---|

D|---------|-3----3-----3-|-3--------5----------5-|--------3-3-------|---5-----|

C

F

G

C

F

E|---------|--------------|-------------h---------|-------------------|--------|

B|---------|--------------|-------1--5-353--------|----3--1-----1-----|-1------|

G|-0---0---|-2------2-----|-2--4-----------5-4----|-0-------2-----2---|--------|

D|---0---0-|----3-----3---|---------------------7-|-----------3-----3-|--------|

A|-3---3---|--------------|-----------------------|-3-----------------|--------|

D|---------|-3----3-----3-|-3--------5----------5-|-------3-----------|-3------|

G/b

C

D

G

C

You and I, tempted by the promise of a different life

G/d

C

D

G

C

Time has fled, there's a constant battle running through my head

Am

D

G

G/b

C

And I don't know what to do, 'cause I still believe

Am

D

Em

After all the foolish things you've put me through

Am

D

Em

I could always make a start on something new

Am

D

C

D

And I've always been a man who's open to... persuasion Blind romance, there'll be no half measures given half a chance But we never learn, trusting in the fire while the cruel flame burns And we need to rebuild what was never there What got left behind After all the foolish things that we've been through I could always make a start on something new And I'll always be a man who's open to... persuasion

G

D

And it's written in my heart

C

G

So that everybody can see it

G

D

And it's written in my soul

Am

D

After all, I still believe it

Em

Am

D

I still believe it

Em

Am

D

I still believe it

Em

Am

D

G/b

I still believe it I don't know what to do, 'cause I still believe After all the foolish things you put me through I could always make a start with something new And I'll always be a man who's open to... persuasion I still believe it... persuasion

Tuning: CGDGBE (Drop C/g)

Capo:

VII

Esus4 44x20x Em 4420xx

G 77x00x Cmaj7(#11) 0040xx

Csus2 002x3x Cmaj7 00200x

Esus4

G

Esus4

Csus2

Esus4

Em

With you or without you, love, I must be moving

Esus4

G

Esus4

Csus2

Esus4

I never meant to linger here so long

Esus4

G

Esus4

Csus2

Esus4

Em

With you or without you though it breaks my heart

Cmaj7(#11)

Em

To hear the sunset song Wasn't that a time we had and bless you for it But I'm a stranger here, I don't belong The bands down on the jetty, if you cup your ear You'll hear the sunset song

C

C(#11)

C

C6

You said, if I held my breath

Csus2

C

Cmaj7

C6

D7

D6

D

Dsus4

Em

Dive down deep enough, I might grow fins

C

C(#11)

C

C6

Seems to me I've held my breath

Csus2

C

Cmaj7

C6

D7

D6

D

Dsus4

Em

Held my breath to please you ever since Early morning, that's the time for fare-thee-wells Slip out of the warm sheets and gone But I want to hear it as I walk along To hear the sunset song In your waking, in your dreams, I won't be martyred On that cross where some say I belong Opinions are coffins, I'll just trust my feet To find the sunset song Every day I'll wear your memory Like a favourite shirt upon my back In the hallway, there's my suitcase By the door, I never did unpack With you or without you, love, I must be moving Never meant to linger here so long With you or without you, though it breaks my heart To hear the sunset song

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)

Capo:

III

D

Valerie, you give me heart attack Valarie, you put me on the rack You say that I'm history, you say I'm no good Then you want to be two babes in the wood

Bm

A

G

Bm

That's what I call playing to the gallery

Bm

A

G

D

I'm wait, wait, waiting for Valerie Valerie, she's got a scar down here Valerie, she's got gold in her ear A figure like this, lips like that Red fingernails, teeth like a cat She never gets home till five or four or three I'm wait, wait, waiting for Valerie

Bm

I'm soft in the head, I give her hard cash

D

She spends all my money on junk and trash

Bm

Nylon fur, plastic shoes

E

And fifty-seven things she's never going to use

E

Never, never, never going to use Valerie, you're going to choke or drown Valerie, why don't you put that down? If you don't get over this eating jag They're going to take you home in a body bag I can't stand to see one more calorie I'm wait, wait, waiting for Valerie Every time I turn my back She's round the corner looking for a crack It's going to be the ruin of me I'm running on nervous energy Running on nervous energy Valerie, she want to move out of town Valerie, she want the money down She want leopard-skin this, tiger-skin that Matching luggage, lipstick, hat I can't afford her on my salary I'm wait, wait, waiting for Valerie

D5

Gm

D5

Gm

D5

Gm

D5

When the spell is broken

D5

Gm

D5

When the spell is broken

F

Am

How you ever gonna keep her now

Am

Gm

You can't cry if you don't know how When the spell is broken When the spell is broken All the joy is gone from her face Welcome back to the human race

Am

How long can the flame

Bb

Of love remain?

C

Bb

When you curse and fight

C

Bb

And never see the like

C

Or hear like spoken

Dsus2

When the spell is broken When the spell is broken When the spell is broken All your magic and your ways and schemes All your lies come and tear at your dreams When the spell is broken When the spell is broken Now you're handing her that same old line It's just straws in the wind this time When love has died There's none starry-eyed No kiss, no tears No farewell souvenirs Not even a token When the spell is broken

Instrumental verse

Don't swear your heart From the very start Love letters you wrote Are pushed back down you throat And leave you choking When the spell is broken

Richard Thompson : Misc: Acoustic

A Solitary Life

Al Bowlly's In Heaven

Among The Gorse, Among The Grey

Fergus Laing

From Galway To Graceland

Good Things Happen To Bad People

If I Could Live My Life Again

Johnny's Far Away

Let It Blow

Mingulay Boat Song

Old Thames Side

Persuasion

Sunset Song

Valerie

When The Spell Is Broken