| Am         | Am         | G          | G          |
| Am         | Am         | G          | G          |
| Am         | C          | D          | D          |

[Verse 1]
G             G               C            G
  Everybody's laughin' at the Early Bird Café,
          C                    C                 G                  G
I've been   hidden there since yesterday and I believe I've lost my way.
C                      C           C                  C
  Charlotte's there in organdy and   Billy's there in suede,
        G              G           C                  G
there’s money in their pockets and   all the dues are paid.
        Am            Am    G                   G
There's wine on every table   and food on every plate,
        G                G           C                   (G)
well, I hope I get there pretty soon   before it gets too late.

[Interlude]
| G         | G          | Am         | Am         |

[Verse 2]
G                     G                 C                 G
Someone asked me what time it was and I   told him it was now,
   C                  C                   G                  G
he asked me just what that might mean but   time would not allow.
      C            C          C               C
So, I gave away my watch to a passing businessman,
        G            G                        C                 G
well, I hope he understands it now cause I've   done the best I can.
Am               Am          G                G
  It was getting early, so I rushed away from there
          G               G                 C              G         G
with that ancient earth beneath my feet and new dust in my hair.

[Verse 3]
        G               G                   C               G
Well, I ran on down the road a while to the   other side of town,
   C                    C               G                  G
my clothes were gettin' wrinkled and my socks were fallin' down.
      C                 C                C                C
But I could not stop to pull them up for fear that I'd be late,
      G               G             C                 G
so, I kept on runnin' down the road   until I saw the gate
       Am           Am          G                 G
of the Early Bird Cafe, glowin'   golden like the sun,
     G            G                      C                   G         G
everybody kept on singing, saying: "Come on in, we've just begun!"

[Interlude]
| Am         | Am         | G          | G          |
| Am         | Am         | G          | G          |
| Am         | C          | D          | D          |
| Am         | Am         | G*         |            |

[Verse 4]
      G                   G                    C                 G
So, I went right in and I set right down and I   ordered up some wine,
    C                 C              G              G
the talk was fast and clever and the women all were fine.
C                    C                       C                C
  Charlotte asked me where I'd been with her   jade and ivory eyes,
  G                 G                 C            G
I told her I'd been hung up with some begger in disguise.
          Am                  Am               Em               Em
Well, she laughed like temple bells, kissed me on the cheek and said:
G*                                          C*
  "You know it's hard to be alive sometimes   but it's easy to be dead!"