C G C
[Verse 1]
C F C
You could have seen him any day up the back of Martin Place
Am G
In a battered Sunday suit that’s seen far better days
F C G Am
Blowing on a mouth harp with the kind of wit and grace
F G
That would bring a smile to the face of a broken clock
C F C
And there was not a verse or chorus the old bastard didn’t know
Am G
From Mother Kelly’s Doorstep to The Banks of The Ohio
F C G Am
The typists and the tellers didn’t want to bloody know
F G
Dealing with their dose of future shock
[Chorus]
C F C
He was playing for the traffic and the nine to fivers
Am G
Tooraloo you’re bound for Botany Bay
C F C
And he gave more to this world than all the penny-pinching bastards
Am G C
They turned around and looked the other way
Am G C F G Am G C G C
[Verse 2]
C F C
I stood awhile to listen as he played the thing with ease
Am G
The crowd that day was tighter than a Pom at a wine and cheese
F C G Am
Maybe they were hard up or just plain hard to please
F G
But no one put a single cent his way
C F C
So I reached into my pocket to even up the score
Am G
Dropped a pile of change into the tin plate on the floor
F C G Am
When you work the streets they treat you like a whore
F G
And no one ought to ever feel that way
[Chorus]
C F C
He was playing for the traffic and the nine to fivers
Am G
Tooraloo you’re bound for Botany Bay
C F C
And he gave more to this world than all the penny-pinching bastards
Am G C
They turned around and looked the other way
Am G C F G Am G C G C
[Verse 3]
C F C
He was playing when I left him, with a new crowd to convince
Am G
I often look out for him but he’s not been back there since
F C G Am
Did anybody notice, does anybody wince
F G
At some pour Bastard digging through the trash
C F C
Cause in this land of milk and honey where there’s more than enough for all
Am G
Why did he spend his whole life with his back against the wall
F C G Am
Did he fight in two world wars to wind up with sweet fuck all
F G
begging on the street for a bit of stash
[Chorus]
C F C
He was playing for the traffic and the nine to fivers
Am G
Tooraloo you’re bound for Botany Bay
C F C
And he gave more to this world than all the penny-pinching bastards
Am G C
That turned around and looked the other way
