E  D7  G


[Verse 1]
       G                         C
It was winter time in Nashville, down on music row
G                                      D7
And I was looking for a place to get myself out of the cold
   G                                C
To warm the frozen feeling that was eating at my soul
    G               D7                    G
And keep the chilly wind off me and my guitar


[Verse 2]
         G                             C
Well, my thirsty wanted whisky; and my hungry needed beans
         G                                  D7
But it'd been of month of paydays since I'd heard that eagle scream
           G                          C
So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams
  G                  D7              G
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar


[Bridge]
E                             D7
Actually, I guess you'd could call it a Tavern
           G
Cigarette smoke to the ceiling, sawdust on the floor friendly shadows


[Verse 3]
        G                                             C
Well, I saw that there was just one old man, that was sitting at the bar
G                                          D7
And in the mirror I could see him checking me and my guitar
       G                                       C
An' he turned and said: "Come up here boy, and show us what you are
             G        D7          G
I said: "I'm dry." He bought me a beer


[Verse 4]
        G                              C
Then he nodded at my guitar and said: "It's a tough life, ain't it?"
       G                                     D7
I just looked at him and he said: "You ain't making any money, are you?"
         G
I said: "You've been reading my mail"
C                                G
He just smiled and said: "Let me see that guitar, I've got something you oughta hear"
D7
Then he laid it on me


[Chorus]
       G                                C
If you waste your time a-talking to the people who don't listen
       G                                  D7
To the things that you are saying, who do you think's going to hear
       G                                 C
And if you should die explaining how the things that they complain about
    G                                    D7                   G
Are things they could be changing who do you think's going to care?


[Verse 5]
           D7                        C                     G
There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind
         G                                D7
Who were crucified for what they tried to show
          G                                 C                 G
And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time
        G                  D7              G
All the truth remains that no-one wants to know


[Verse 6]
          G                               C
Well, the old man was a stranger, but I'd heard his song before
          G                                D7
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door
     G                             C
When no-one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor
    G            D7                   G
And lonesome was more than a state of mind


[Verse 7]
             G                       C
You see, the devil haunts a hungry man
       G                               D7
And if you don't wanna join him,  well you gotta beat him
        G                              C
I ain't saying I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing
G  D7                   G
   And then I stole his song


[Chorus]
         G                               C
And you still can hear me singing to the people who don't listen
       G                                D7
To the things that I am saying, praying someone's going to hear
      G                                 C
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about
    G                                     D7                 G
Are things they could be changing, hoping someone's going to care


[Verse 8]
      D7                            C                G
I was born a lonely singer, and I'm bound to die the same
         G                            D7
But I've got to feed the hunger in my soul
         G                            C         G
And if I never have a nickle, I won't ever die ashamed
        G                  D7              G
Cause I don't believe that no-one wants to know


[Outro]
E  D7  G              G  C  G  D7  G  C  G  D7  G
             Do do do doo