Chords for "If I Had Been A Better Man" - Colin Hay "Next Year People" Live Web Series (Episode 2)

[E] _ _ [D] [A] That was [E] actually a song which was [D] I wrote [E] to a brief it wasn't [D] really a
[A] Necessarily a personal statement, [D] [A] you know friend of mine wanted to write a song [F#m] with me about an ex
singer, you know [A] a singer who was had been very very famous and
Had fallen.
[Bm] I don't know whether he'd fallen on hard [E] times, but he was _
[A] [C#m] You know having to you know
Realize [G#] what what kind of person he'd been to get to the point he was [E] at, you know
Because there's always that as well [A] and using your ego to get to a certain point
Does work, you know because it drives you it's a it's it's aggression and and
_ _ But often what happens along the way is that you [F#m] you you burn bridges [Bm] and you you know
You [E] hurt people and then at some point you [C#m] have to go.
Well, [Bm] I
Did that you know [E] and you have to?
[D] _ [E] Make amends [A] in some way shape or form
Making excuses never works, [F#m] but I like that idea.
I like the [E] idea of it.
So anyway, I [D] didn't end up working with that with
[A] On that song because I was away on tour and so [Bm] we ended up working with somebody else
But I had this set of lyrics that I've written [F#m] so I just finished [E] it and [A] you know recorded it myself _ _
[D] _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ [A] _ _ _
[D] _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [A] _ [D] _
[A] _ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ [B] _ _
[E] _ [A] Seeds
I scourged [C#m] the earth behind me.
[B] I could have made a [E] better plan
[F#m] If [E] I had been a better [A] man
[D] _
[A] _ _ Promises [D] were not to keep
[Am] [D] To [A] the [D] dirt
[A] It must be more.
[F#m] I told myself [Bm] as I buttoned up [E] my shirt
[A] Well, I can paint myself [C#m] in glory now [B] and be proud of who [E] I am
[D] _ [A] _ [E] _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [F#m] _ _ [E] _ _ [D] _
See
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ [E] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
[Bm] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ I
[A] Took _ [D] [A] his mind
_ [A] _ _
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [Bm] _ [E] _
_ [A] _ _ _ [C#m] _ _ [Bm] _ _
[E] _ _ [D] _ _ [E] _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ Me
Keep [D] it to [A] the ground
Sit [F#m] there such for my soul to keep like [Bm] a buried treasure [E] found
[A] With dreams are speaking [C#m] ancient tongues [Bm] lost in wind [E] and sand
[D] _ [A] Only I had been a better man
_ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _
[A] _ Yeah
_ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ [Bm] _ _ [A] _ [E] _ [A] _ _ [F#m] _
_ _ [Bm] _ [A] _ [E] _ _ [D] _ _
[A] _ [E] _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ [F#m] _ [A]
If [D] I had been [A] a better man _ [D] _ [A] _ _
[D] if I had [A] been a better man
_ [D] _ [A] _
If [D] I had been [A] a better man _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _