Chords for Colter Wall backstage interview at Tønder Festival 2017

[F] _ _ _ _ Well, I [D] call myself [C] a folk singer on the camera.
I sing
_ Traditional folk songs a lot.
It's there.
I'm very fond of those songs.
So I like to sing them
I also write my own songs [N] and I try to draw a lot of influence from those old
you know traditional folk ballads and stuff like that, but
_ Country music also has a lot to do with with the songs
I write country and [Em] Western music is sort of what I was brought up on
So that's pretty important to me too, but yeah, I call myself I call myself a folk singer to me
I'm sure not everybody feels this way, but to me
It's all about the story.
That's what I'm most interested in when I hear a song and I love
_ The musical side of listening to a song too.
I love listening to really great musicians play and really great bands play
But but to me, it's always all about the lyrics and the story that you tell
Because that's a I mean that's my job, you know, that's what I do
I don't think I would have a gig just playing guitar or playing anything.
I
Don't think I'd have a job in music if that was the case.
I have to
And I have to tell those stories and I have to write
[N] _ _ Those songs in the way that I do because that's that's sort of a central focus for me and
you know, I think it's a it's a _ _
Therapeutic thing for me and hopefully from people when they listen to it to some degree, you know if they enjoy it
but for me, I need to write because
It helps me make sense of the world I guess _
And I and I hope other people have that same sort of connection with with these songs when they listen to them
But you know
People have been telling stories since I mean for as long as any human beings been around people been telling stories
I'm sure so it's sort of just built into us.
I think it's built into our makeup and
_ _ Like I said, it's just the carrying on of a tradition _ and
That's really important to me.
So I'm happy to get to do it for a living
What I find interesting about murder ballads is is a lot of things for one thing
_ Death and murder I think are always pretty good
_ _ Themes for for the telling of a good story, you know
_ That's why you see it so much in books and in TV and stuff.
I think it's just
immediately captivating in it to a certain degree because it's such an extreme thing and you know
everybody dies right so it affects everybody and and
Strikes everybody in a certain way, I guess but I don't know murder ballads are funny because
It's a tradition people have been singing them for a long time.
Well, I think
life can be pretty dark sometimes and
In recognizing the sadness or the darkness or whatever you want to call it in life
I think it's easier to recognize the other side of the brighter side of life, I guess _ _
Um, _ _ _ but I don't know it's uh, it's always been something that's fascinated me I sort of _
My head goes to those places a lot, you know and and as a result I write songs that are sometimes pretty pretty dark _
But again, that's that's the beauty of art is that it doesn't all have to be
You know dance music or clean-cut happy songs
You're allowed to get
You're allowed to kind of freak it out and get dark with it sometimes and that's just another way of expressing oneself I suppose
this song I'm gonna play is called 13 silver dollars it is a _
true story about me
Making bad decisions and getting arrested in my [E] hometown in [F] Canada. _ _ _ _ _
[D] _ [Am] _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [C] _ _
[F] _ [Dm] _ [F] _ [Em] _ [F] _ _ _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ [F] _ _
_ [Em] _ [F] _ _ It was a cold [Bb] and cruel
_ Sneaking up [F] on speedy creep
Found myself [Gb] asleep in the snow
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ One or two odd reasons I [Bb] ain't too [F] proud to repeat
[G] For now we'll say I had no place [C] to go _
It was [F] a Russell and I'm in
[Bb] This Holland [F] down the street drew myself up from my I see bed _
_ _ _ [Dm] _ [F] _ Painted on that shiny car the letters are CMMP
Feel a little late killing my head _ _ _ _ _
And then I jumps this old boy about it twice the size of me
He asked me for my name and where I dwell. _
_ _ _ _ I just looked him in the eye and [Bb] sang blue yodel [F] number nine
[G] Didn't catch the reference.
I [C] could tell
[Bb] _ [Am] _ [F] Then the old familiar click [Bb] and handcuffs [F] by any trip
She left me [G] in the snow [F] where I lay _ _ _ _
[F] _ He just laughed and touched his gun and [Bb] turned to me [F] said son
But you [C] don't own a damn thing [F] to your name.
_ _ _ _ [Bb] I got my help
_ [F] John B Stetson.
I [Am] got me a bottle full of [F] babies bluebird wine.
I [Bb] left my stack
Somewhere [F] down in the rest of along with [C] 13 silver [F] dollars and my mind.
_ _ [Am] _ [G] _
[F] _ _ _ [Bb] _ [F] _ _ _ _
[Bb] _ [G] _ _ _ [Ab] [F] I got my [Bb] help
But [F] John B Stetson
Got [C] me a bottle full of [F] babies bluebird wine.
I left [Bb] my stash
somewhere [F] down and rest
along with [C] 13 silver dollars [F] and my mind
along [C] with 13 silver [G] dollars and my [F] mind _ _ _ _