G                               D                     G
Dear Sir I write this note to you to tell you of my plight
C                                G              D
For at the time of writing it I'm not a pretty sight
C               G                  D               Em                       
My body is all black and blue, my face a deathly grey
        G                 C            D            G
And I write this note to say why I am not at work today

G                                            D               G
While working on the fourteenth floor some bricks I had to clear
C                           G                 D
But tossing them down from such a height was not a good idea
       C            G               D             Em
The foreman wasn't very pleased he is an arkward sod 
         G            C                   D            G
And he said I had to cart them down the ladders in me hod

G                                          D            G
Well clearing all these bricks by hand it was so very slow
         C                   G                D
So I hoisted up a barrel and secured a rope below
       C           G                 D            Em
But in me haste to do the job, I was to blind to see
         G               C                   D         G
That a barrel full of building bricks was heavier than me

G                                   D               G
And so when I untied the rope the barrel fell like lead
       C                 G                 D
And clinging tightly to the rope I started up instead
     C            G                   D      Em
I shot up like a rocket, and to my dismay I found
       G           C               D            G
That halfway up I met the bloody barrel coming down

G                                 D                    G
Well the barrel broke me shoulder as to the ground it sped
     C                     G                    D
And when I reached the top I banged the pulley with me head
       C                 G                   D             Em
But I clung on tightly numb with shock from this almighty blow
            G                 C                       D              G
While the barrel spilled out half it's bricks some fourteen floors below

G                                       D             G
When these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor 
    C                   G              D                    
I then outweighed the barrel and so started down once more
        C                  G           D                Em 
But I clung on tightly to the rope me body racked with pain 
      G            C                D           G
And halfway down I met the bloody barrel once again

G                                        D                G
Now the force of this collision halfway down the office block
          C         G                D
Caused multiple abrasions and a nasty case of shock
        C                  G             D                  Em
But I clung on tightly to the rope as I fell towards the ground
        G             C                 D                    G
And I landed on the broken bricks the barrel had scattered round.

G                                           D               G
Now as I lay there on the ground I thought I'd passed the worst
          C              G                    D
But the barrel hit the pulley wheel and then the bottom burst
    C                G                  D             Em
A shower of bricks rained down on me I didn't have a hope
      G                  C                         D          G
As I lay there bleeding on the ground I let go of the bloody rope

G                                  D               G
The barrel now being heavier so started down once more
     C                  G            D
It landed right across me as I lay there on the floor
    C                G               D              Em
It broke three ribs and my left arm and I can only say
   G               C               D           G
I hope you`ll understand why I am not at work today