Chords for Fred Eaglesmith - Harold Wilson

_ _ _ _ [F#] _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [A#] _
_ [D] _ [C#m] _ _ [D] _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ _ [A] _
_ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [A#] _ [N] I used to be in the chicken business.
I used to buy and sell chicken.
[G#] It's like all businesses in North [E] America, most of them,
[D#] when you get your hands [A#] on, it's one really successful business.
[E] Chicken's got this thing called [A#] coccidiosis.
_ [B] _
[G#] I'm [E] not going to discuss this. _ _ _
When [G#] I was in the chicken business, [E] I met this guy.
He sold me chickens.
_ [A#] He was one of the last independent [N] men I ever met.
He was 72 years [C#m] old and he knew how to raise birds [G#m] really good.
[A#] He raised [D#] pheasants [G#m] and chickens and quail [A#m] and stuff.
I'd buy them [N] from him and raise them up and try to make money. _
_ [A#] _ _ [Em] The government came, the [D] local authorities [F] came as they do
[E] and shut him down because he had scrap steel in the front yard.
He wasn't allowed to sell.
He didn't have a license to sell scrap steel.
[A#] So they shut him down for not [E] having a license to sell scrap steel.
_ _ It's going to be a [G#m] revolution, just probably not this [Em] generation.
[G#] That's what I'm saying, probably not this generation.
[Em] But I figure my [G#m] kids are ready and I think their kids are [Em] probably going to say,
screw [E] this, let's [A#] start over.
I [E] mean, let's start over now.
[G#] Of [E] _
course, we'd [D#] be in a lot more trouble if the terrorists were [D] smarter.
[E] _ _
That guy wasn't [D#] _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] [A#] smart to the terrorists.
He [Em] could get a half-buck.
He's [E] a bad terrorist.
[N] Can you imagine a pack of stabs right now?
How did we get someone so [A#] stupid?
_ _ [D#] Stupid, stupid, stupid.
[N] _ Where did we find this guy? _ _
Can't we do better? _ _ _ _ _
_ [C#] _ _ _ [E] _ Anyway, _ this guy is 72 years old.
This was only in the early 90s.
Yeah, early 90s.
_ _ They shut him down because of the steel.
At 72 years old, he got out on the highway [C#] and he stuck out [Cm] his thumb.
[E] Then he hitchhiked 3,000 miles to go see his kids out on the West Coast.
I was trying to help him.
I went to the town council and yelled at them, [A#m] which really [E] works.
_ For the people of the people, by the people, you know that one.
_ I yelled at them and then his wife would call and say, she was leaving messages.
[N] She had 12 kids, they had 12 kids. _ _
He's gone.
_ _ That's all she said, he's gone.
[G#m] Then I get a message like three weeks later, he's back.
[D#] _ [N] He's gone.
He just stayed out living on the [E] road for four years, hitchhiking back and forth across Canada, going to see his kids.
He said, screw it.
Fantastic.
That's the last of the real men. _
There's a song I wrote for him. _
Al Wilson is my name, son, [C#m] why don't you send a spell?
[E] I live right here on the Ferguson Road [C#m] at the Paradise Hotel.
[E] Even though you do not know me, [C#] there's a story I'd like to tell.
[G#] It's a story that I'm sure you [C#] all will.
[E] _ _
It's a story [B] that I'm sure you [C#m] all will. _ _
[E] I had me a place on Thunder [C#m] Ridge in a doomsday shack.
[E] My wife had left and took the kids [A] a couple of [C#m] years back.
And I spent [E] most of my mornings [C#m] thinking about that.
[G#] And my afternoons trying to [G#m] figure out what to [C#m] play.
[A] _ [E]
Spent my [B] afternoons trying to figure out what to [C#m] play. _
[E] Did you ever try to farm a farm [C#m] road and a shed?
[E] Try to put a field in the corn just [C#m] to put in the crows?
[E] Staring down across the town, you [C#m] wonder why even bother.
[G#] Well, up the road there's a vacant room, [C#m] climate control and color.
And you [B] can stay there for about a month for a hundred [C#m] dollars. _
[E] And you can stay there for about a month [B] for a hundred [C#m] dollars. _
There wasn't [E] money in corn and [C#m] there wasn't money in beans.
[E] They took my telephone, chopped [C#m] off my electricity.
[E] Then a letter came in a mail saying [C#m] there's taxes owed by me.
[G#] If I was ever gonna pay, [E] well, I [A] had three rooms.
[E] _
If I was [G] ever gonna pay, well, I [C#m] had three rooms. _
[E] Did you ever try to farm a [C#m] farm road and a shed?
[E] Try to put a field in the corn just [C#m] to put in the crows?
_ Staring [E] down across the town, you [C#m] wonder why even bother.
[G#] Well, up the road there's a vacant [D#] room, climate [Em] control and color.
And you can stay there [B] for about a month for [C#m] a hundred dollars. _
[E] And you can stay there for [B] about a month for a [C#] hundred [C#m] dollars. _
[E] So they sold that farm to some fool for [C#m] ten cents on the dollar.
I [E] saw him out there last week, I was [C#m] on my way to visit my daughter.
[E] And that son of a gun is out there trying to [C#m] hook the windmill up to her.
[G#] And when he heard me laugh, well, he turned and I swear [A] he hauled her. _
[E] And when he heard me [B] laugh, well, he turned and I [C#m] swear he hauled her. _
Did you ever try to farm a farm with a pig and an eggshell?
[E] Try to put a field in the corn just [C#m] to put in the crows?
[E] Staring down across the town, you [C#m] wonder why even bother.
[G#] Well, up the road there's a vacant [E] room, climate control and color.
And you can stay there for [Bm] about a month for a [C#m] hundred dollars. _
[E] And you can stay there for about a month for a [C#m] hundred dollars. _
[C] Yeah, [E] the government checks come down to pay.
[C#m] Regulars rain, [E] and I sit outside most nights when [C#m] the June bugs drive me in.
[E] Wilson is my name, why [C#m] don't you send a smell?
[G#m] I live right here on [B] Ferguson Road at the [C#m] Paradise Hotel. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _