Em

[Verse 1]
     Em
When Prussians came to take the house 
  D
I could not stop them then 
     B7
They filled the rooms with horses 
     Em
With sheep as well as men 
  Am
I tried for poor old Camille’s sake 
    Em
For M'sieur Monet too 
    Am
But they were Prussian soldiers 
          B7
There was little I could do 


[Verse 2]
  Em
Camille had fled to England 
        D
M'sieur Monet followed on 
     B7
When war came both made certain 
          Em
That they never saw a gun 
     Am
They left me to look after 
        Em
All the things they left behind 
    Am
But so much in so small a house 
    B7
The troops were sure to find 


[Verse 3]
    G
The store room full of paintings 
        D
Fifteen years of Camille’s life 
B7
Pictures of our village 
       Em
Of his children and his wife 
    G
And when the rain made good earth mud 
    D
And rivers of the lanes 
    C
The soldiers laid them end to end 
     B7                        Em
And walked on canvassed frames 


[Verse 4]
    Em
The colours and the pigments merged 
    D
And M'sieur Monet’s blue 
B7
Joined the reds, the greens, the browns 
   Em
To form another hue 
    Am
And poor Camille’s 'Plein Air' became 
  Em
A blackened, blasted land 
   Am
As boots tore holes with muddied soles
     B7
Sent from the fatherland 


[Verse 5]
     Em
They burned the rest for daily warmth 
    D
The paint and oil were good 
    B7
And gave more heat to blistered feet 
     Em
Than shower dampened wood 
    C
But when they left I tried to clean 
    Em
The pictures that I found 
   Am
By Camille and his friend Monet 
     B7
Deep trodden in the ground 


[Verse 6]
    G
But why I bothered I don’t know 
  D
Camille’s a silly fool 
B7
No one buys his paintings 
            Em
They’re all laughing as a rule 
    G
And M'sieur Monet’s eyes can’t see 
     D
He’s never finished yet 
   C
No details, just impressions 
       B7                    Em
Is the best that he can get 


[Verse 7]
     Em
When they return and find the truth 
   D
Maybe they’ll see the light 
    B7
And do an honest job for once 
   Em
It never has seemed right 
  Am
A life spent painting pictures 
       Em
We all wonder why they try 
    Am
"See this one here, yes, take it, sir"
  B7
A M'sieur Monet sky 
     Em           B7 Em
That no one wants to buy