Chords for For Debbie & her friends

to dislike it.
_ _ But you said you liked people I think once.
I like children.
And does singing
in a sense bring you to people in another sort of way?
If it doesn't, [Abm] I need to be so careful
because I don't want to sound pompous or conceited but I reckon I can achieve more
as an educator if you like by writing and singing and being what I am now than by doing what I was
for the last three years, that is being a school teacher.
Do you want to be a social commentator
an entertainer?
_ I want to be both.
You want to be both?
Yes, both aspects appeal because
from my writing point of view I want to say things, I want to say important things
but I want to put it across in a way that it will appeal to all people.
Do you see?
I don't want to
be terribly intellectual or anything so that most people say what's he on about, what's he [Ebm] talking
about now, what's he singing about.
I don't want to do that, I don't want to be that.
I want to
appeal to a lot of people but at the same time I want to say things that matter, I want to sing
about things that matter.
_ Growing up [Ab] can be [Db] a lot of fun
[Gb] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Gb] _
_ _ Learning how to [Ab] walk, [Gb]
dance [Db] and run
[Gb] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Gb] _
_ I know someone [Ab] _ [Db] very special, _ she takes [Gb] such care
_ Tell me what [Ab] it's like [Gb] in your [Db] wheelchair
_ [Gb] This [Ab] _ [Gb] is the song from [Abm] Clifford's new album [Bb] that particularly intrigued Tony Jasper.
It's called For Debbie and [Db] Her Friends.
_ Who [Ab] is Debbie?
Well she's my daughter.
_ And how old is Debbie?
She's 10.
She's 10 that's right, how did you know?
_ You've all met Debbie as [Abm] well have you?
_ [Bb] So she spent two days here [Db] didn't she?
Yeah, first and final.
First and final.
[Ab] And she sat on your dinner table?
Yeah.
_ [E] _ _ Where's Debbie now?
[Ab] Well she goes to [Db] a boarding school in Kent because [Ab] she's handicapped, she can't walk. _
This is all her life she's been like that?
Yes, she has _
[E] _ what is termed medically a cerebral palsy, which is commonly called, she's a spastic
because she was born prematurely and [Ab] caused brain damage and _ she's never been able to walk.
So she goes to a [A] very [Ab] lovely school in Kent called the Thomas De La Rue school.
She [E] comes home about once every, what would it be Martin?
A year.
It isn't once a year!
She was home last week, she comes home about once every six weeks.
[Ab] And _ _ to end of term holidays as well.
Do you feel that people in society tend to take people like Debbie and say that they're different, whereas in fact really they're [Bb] just,
you know, they're really, to be part and parcel of society we should accept people.
Indeed, this is another of my_
Another of your things?
Yes.
This is why you wrote this song?
Yes, yes, because I wrote it initially for her, but it's something I needed to express in a song I [Abm] felt at the time.
But I hope that it will carry some sort of message for _ society and its attitude towards [Ab] disabled people.
I feel very strongly about this, that handicapped people, disabled people, whether they're physically handicapped, whether they're mentally handicapped,
should be very [Bb] much a part of the community and shouldn't be hidden away, shouldn't be _ isolated in hospitals. _
[Ab] I'm not sentimental about her condition, or well that's perhaps a contradiction because the song [Db] is [E] sentimental in a way.
But it is a quiet [Abm] acceptance, I mean, but she realises her [E] condition.
Oh indeed, it's an acceptance which has been with us for a long time and we've, I think, instilled the acceptance into her.
She's become very independent, you know, because of it, she does everything for [Ab] herself and she relies on us now for nothing, [Db]
except [Bbm] love.
You have taught [Ebm] me more [Gb] than any [Ab] book I've [Db] ever read
_ [Bbm] _ And now [Ebm] I find [Gb] that I refer to you [Ab] instead _
_ [Eb] _ [Ebm] You ask [Ab] me if I [Gb]
believe [Db] in [Gb] God
[Ab] I _ [Gb] _
_ [Ebm] _ _ say [Ab] he's someone [Gb]
I'm [Db] not sure [Gb] of
_ [Ab] _ _ [Gb] _
_ [Ebm] _ Then you say [Ab] that's [Db] silly of me
_ He must [Gb] be there
_ [Ebm] Tell me what [Ab] it's like [Gb] in your [Db] _ [Gb] wheelchairs
_ [Ab] _ _ [Gb] _
_ [Ebm] _ Tell me what [Ab] it's like [Gb] in