Chords for Greg Brown - Poet Game

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_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
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_ Down by the river, junior year, walking with my girl,
_ [D] _ And we came upon [G] a place, _ _ there in the tall grass,
Where a couple had been making love, [C] _ And left the [Em] mark [D] of their _ embrace.
_ _ [C] I said to her, [Em] looks like they had some fun, _
[A] She said to me, let's [A] do the same.
_ [G] Still I tasted kisses and the freckles in the sun,
_ [D] _ When I played the [G] poet _ game. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
A young man down in the hill country, In the year of twenty-two,
_ [D] _ Went to meet [G] his future _ bride.
_ _ She lived in a rough old shack, And poverty blew through,
[C] _ And she invited [D] him inside.
_ _ [G] _ [C] _ She'd been cooking, [Em] ashamed and feeling sad, [A] She could only offer him _ [D] bread and a name. _
[G] Grandpa said that was the best gift a fella ever [D] had,
And he taught me [G] the poet game. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ I had a friend who drank too much, And played too much [D] guitar,
_ Oh and we sure [G] got along.
_ _ _ Reel to reels rolled across the country near and far,
[C] _ _
With letters, [D] poems and songs. _
[G] [C] But these days he don't [D] talk to me, [E] And he won't tell me why.
[Bm] [A] I miss him every time I [D] say his [A] name.
I [G] don't know what he's doing, Or why our friendship [Am] died,
While we played [G] the poet game. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ The fall rain was pounding down on an old New Hampshire mill,
[D] _
And the river [Am] _ [G] wild and high.
I was talking to her while leaves blew down like a sudden chill,
[C] _ And there was [G]
wildness in [D] her eyes.
_ [G] [C] We made love like [D] we'd been [Em] waiting all our lives for [A] this.
_ _ _ [G] Strangers, [D] no, no shame.
[G] But she had to leave at dawn, And with a sticky farewell [D] kiss,
Left me to play the [G] poet game. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
I watched my country turn into a coast-to-coast strip [D] mall,
And I cried out [G] in song.
_ If we could do all that in thirty years, Then please tell me you [C] all,
Why does good [G] change [D] take so long?
_ [G] [C] Why does the color of your skin, [Em] Or who you choose to love,
[A] _ Still lead to such anger and pain? _
[G] Why do I think it's any help, For me to still dream [D] of
Playing the [G] poet game? _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ The sirens wail above the fields, Another soul gone [D] down,
Another sun [G] about to rise.
_ I've lost track of my mistakes, Like birds that fly [C] around, _ _
Darken [D] half my _ skies.
[C] To all of those I've hurt, [E] Oh, I pray you will forgive me.
[G] [A] I, too, will freely do the same.
_ [G] So many things I didn't see, With my eyes turned _
[D] inside,
Playing the [G] poet game.
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[D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ I walk out at night to take a leak, _ Underneath the stars.
[D] _ Oh, yeah, that's the [G] life for me. _
There's Orion and the Pleiades, And I guess that must be [C] Mars,
All as clear [D] as we long to be.
_ [C] I've sung what I was given, [Em] Some was bad and some was good, _
[A] I never did know from [D] where it came, _ [G] And if I had it all [G] to do again,
I am not sure I [D] would _ Play [G] the poet game. _ _
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