G
It seems too good to be true
               C
But there’s a girl in Kansas City
        G
With my favourite tattoo
   Am          C       G
Oh why would I lie to you?

         C
This was in another century
          G
Somewhere near the summer’s end
    C
The fahrenheit was frightening
      G
I was awake the whole weekend
  C
Invited to a barbecue
        G
I found refuge in the kitchen
            C
Discussing post-war US literature
                  G
With a girl whose upper arm read “fiction”
        Am            C     G     
Like it might have been typewritten

C G – C G

       C
When I asked her its significance
             G
She said she sometimes took reminding
         C
What she wanted to be doing
        G
Whether reading it or writing
     C
I admitted admiration
         G
For both typeface and intent
               C
And said more softly — sotto voce —
       G
I knew too well what she meant
         Am            C           G
She just smiled and in a while she went

Dm           Am                    G
For a time I forgot this ever took place
                                 C
She left her bottle on the bookcase

G – C G – C G – C G – C G – C G

             C
So though I leave you little option
       G
But to take me at my word
    C
I assure you, dearest listener
        G
That it happened as you’ve heard
     C
A beer left on a bookshelf
     G
At a bygone barbecue
      C
By a girl from Kansas City
        G
With my favourite tattoo
   Am           C        G
Oh why would I lie to you?
   Am           C        G
Oh why would I lie to you?
   Am           C        G
Oh why would I lie?