Chords for Guy Clark , 2009 Texas Heritage Songwriters' Association Honor Roll
Tempo:
102.7 bpm
Chords used:
Bb
D
Eb
G
E
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[E] [F] [Bb] Bill Country, how the talking [C] reed of the loom,
Well, I started playing guitar when I was like a junior in high school, I guess.
My father's law partner was a woman named Lola Bonner,
and she just graduated from the University of Texas.
And all she knew were border songs, Mexican music in South Texas.
And so first year I played the guitar, I didn't know any songs in English.
And [Bb] then kind of got into traditional folk music,
and had always been exposed to really good writing, good poetry.
And [A] the writing of songs just was the natural thing to do [E] next.
And [D] that [E] old time [A]
feeling
[B] Well, I think a good song is a song that allows the listener to associate with it,
to relate to it in some way, which has got to do with the way you write.
You have to leave holes in the right place.
You can't detail everything perfectly, or they have no room to get inside it,
or to allow it to [Bb] touch them.
It's like good guitar players, it's not the licks they play, it's the holes they play.
[C] [Eb] I can just get off of [F] this LA [Bb] freeway without getting [Eb] killed
[Bb] I'd be down and rolling, probably smoked [Fm] too, so I'm laying
I ain't bogged, bogged, [Eb] bogged, if I can just get off [F] of this LA [Bb] freeway
without getting [Eb] killed, I'd
[Bb] be down and rolling
Dylan Thomas, [F]
you know, as far as writing goes,
Dylan Thomas, [C] Robert Service, Stephen Vincent Bonet,
[Eb] I mean, those kind of towns and I used [Bb] every time we'd start thinking we were pretty cool,
pretty smart, [F] pretty good, you know, we'd put on a tape of Dylan Thomas reading his own work,
[Bb] bring you right back to earth.
[Bm] I guess the rattle's waiting for [G] the train
My favorite version of any song of mine that anybody's done is,
remember Slim Pickens, the old cowboy actor?
He read Desperado's Waiting for a Train as a [Gb] poem over the music.
[D] I mean, it's like, God, [Eb] you know.
That picture hanging on the wall was painted by a friend
Yeah, Step Inside This House, it was the first song I wrote
and I played it for a long time and it always struck me as kind of a first effort,
kind of amateur writing, and I [Bb]
forgot it, I never did it.
And one night we were [Eb] playing that songwriter's show,
me and Lyle and Joe Ealy and John Hyatt in New York City,
[Bb] and there was sort of a moderator guy who asked everybody in turn,
play a song you wish you had written.
And I played a Joe Ealy song and Joe played probably a Butch Hancock song,
I don't know what John played, and Lyle started playing that song
and he was two verses and a chorus into it before I realized it was my song.
I completely forgot it.
[Eb] And he just does it so much better than I ever did,
and I just, [A] there was no reason to [D] do it.
[G] [D]
[Em] I think [A] it's always been for me, it's been a song called [D] She Ain't Going Nowhere.
[Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she's [D] just leaving
[Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she [D] can't breathe [G] in
[Em] This is one of [E] the earlier songs I wrote, because one, it only took about 45 minutes,
but it's just so [D] succinct and so [G] clean, the writing of it, it's not [D] cluttered at all.
I probably got the original paper I wrote it on, there's not [E] one word scratched out.
[D] It's just
[Em] moments of clarity that you happen to have a [F] pencil in your hands.
His [G] head just fell down on his chest, [C] he says everything that he gets
[Bb] Just that they [Gb] were involved with it, that it touched them in some way, that I did my [C] job.
I mean, I don't write these songs just to sit in a room and play to myself,
I write them to play for the folks, and hopefully [F] it makes some difference to them,
or at least makes them think, or [Gb] something.
I mean, I don't have any message, or I'm preaching to anybody, or have an agenda of any sort.
I'm usually lucky if I can remember them.
But, mostly that it's fun, it's supposed to be [E] fun.
Being [B] six years old, [G] I had seen some trains before, [A] so it's hard to figure [E] out
Being born here and growing up in Texas, [D] you're kind of imbued with this spirit of
You can do anything you say you can do.
There are no rules, there is no best there is.
Just do it.
Whatever it takes, do it.
And you have this marvelous,
[G] I don't know what it is,
all this wonderful storytelling input.
I mean, Texas is known for storytellers and bullshitters.
And that just seems to fit perfectly into writing songs.
Oh my mama, [C] ain't that [Gm] Texas lookin' [G] something?
Oh my mama, ain't that Texas lookin' something?
Well, I started playing guitar when I was like a junior in high school, I guess.
My father's law partner was a woman named Lola Bonner,
and she just graduated from the University of Texas.
And all she knew were border songs, Mexican music in South Texas.
And so first year I played the guitar, I didn't know any songs in English.
And [Bb] then kind of got into traditional folk music,
and had always been exposed to really good writing, good poetry.
And [A] the writing of songs just was the natural thing to do [E] next.
And [D] that [E] old time [A]
feeling
[B] Well, I think a good song is a song that allows the listener to associate with it,
to relate to it in some way, which has got to do with the way you write.
You have to leave holes in the right place.
You can't detail everything perfectly, or they have no room to get inside it,
or to allow it to [Bb] touch them.
It's like good guitar players, it's not the licks they play, it's the holes they play.
[C] [Eb] I can just get off of [F] this LA [Bb] freeway without getting [Eb] killed
[Bb] I'd be down and rolling, probably smoked [Fm] too, so I'm laying
I ain't bogged, bogged, [Eb] bogged, if I can just get off [F] of this LA [Bb] freeway
without getting [Eb] killed, I'd
[Bb] be down and rolling
Dylan Thomas, [F]
you know, as far as writing goes,
Dylan Thomas, [C] Robert Service, Stephen Vincent Bonet,
[Eb] I mean, those kind of towns and I used [Bb] every time we'd start thinking we were pretty cool,
pretty smart, [F] pretty good, you know, we'd put on a tape of Dylan Thomas reading his own work,
[Bb] bring you right back to earth.
[Bm] I guess the rattle's waiting for [G] the train
My favorite version of any song of mine that anybody's done is,
remember Slim Pickens, the old cowboy actor?
He read Desperado's Waiting for a Train as a [Gb] poem over the music.
[D] I mean, it's like, God, [Eb] you know.
That picture hanging on the wall was painted by a friend
Yeah, Step Inside This House, it was the first song I wrote
and I played it for a long time and it always struck me as kind of a first effort,
kind of amateur writing, and I [Bb]
forgot it, I never did it.
And one night we were [Eb] playing that songwriter's show,
me and Lyle and Joe Ealy and John Hyatt in New York City,
[Bb] and there was sort of a moderator guy who asked everybody in turn,
play a song you wish you had written.
And I played a Joe Ealy song and Joe played probably a Butch Hancock song,
I don't know what John played, and Lyle started playing that song
and he was two verses and a chorus into it before I realized it was my song.
I completely forgot it.
[Eb] And he just does it so much better than I ever did,
and I just, [A] there was no reason to [D] do it.
[G] [D]
[Em] I think [A] it's always been for me, it's been a song called [D] She Ain't Going Nowhere.
[Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she's [D] just leaving
[Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she [D] can't breathe [G] in
[Em] This is one of [E] the earlier songs I wrote, because one, it only took about 45 minutes,
but it's just so [D] succinct and so [G] clean, the writing of it, it's not [D] cluttered at all.
I probably got the original paper I wrote it on, there's not [E] one word scratched out.
[D] It's just
[Em] moments of clarity that you happen to have a [F] pencil in your hands.
His [G] head just fell down on his chest, [C] he says everything that he gets
[Bb] Just that they [Gb] were involved with it, that it touched them in some way, that I did my [C] job.
I mean, I don't write these songs just to sit in a room and play to myself,
I write them to play for the folks, and hopefully [F] it makes some difference to them,
or at least makes them think, or [Gb] something.
I mean, I don't have any message, or I'm preaching to anybody, or have an agenda of any sort.
I'm usually lucky if I can remember them.
But, mostly that it's fun, it's supposed to be [E] fun.
Being [B] six years old, [G] I had seen some trains before, [A] so it's hard to figure [E] out
Being born here and growing up in Texas, [D] you're kind of imbued with this spirit of
You can do anything you say you can do.
There are no rules, there is no best there is.
Just do it.
Whatever it takes, do it.
And you have this marvelous,
[G] I don't know what it is,
all this wonderful storytelling input.
I mean, Texas is known for storytellers and bullshitters.
And that just seems to fit perfectly into writing songs.
Oh my mama, [C] ain't that [Gm] Texas lookin' [G] something?
Oh my mama, ain't that Texas lookin' something?
Key:
Bb
D
Eb
G
E
Bb
D
Eb
_ _ [E] _ [F] _ [Bb] Bill Country, how the talking [C] reed of the loom,
Well, I started playing guitar when I was like a junior in high school, I guess.
My father's law partner was a woman named Lola Bonner,
and she just graduated from the University of Texas.
_ _ And all she knew were border songs, Mexican music in South Texas.
And so first year I played the guitar, I didn't know any songs in English.
And _ _ _ [Bb] then kind of got into traditional folk music,
and had always been exposed to really good writing, good poetry.
_ _ _ _ And [A] the writing of songs just was the natural thing to do [E] next.
And [D] that [E] old time [A] _
feeling
[B] Well, I think a good song is a song that allows the listener to associate with it,
to relate to it in some way, which has got to do with the way you write.
_ _ You have to leave holes in the right place.
You can't detail everything perfectly, or they have no room to get inside it,
or to allow it to [Bb] touch them.
It's like good guitar players, it's not the licks they play, it's the holes they play.
[C] _ [Eb] I can just get off of [F] this LA [Bb] freeway without getting [Eb] killed
_ _ [Bb] I'd be down and rolling, probably smoked [Fm] too, so I'm laying
I ain't bogged, bogged, [Eb] bogged, if I can just get off [F] of this LA [Bb] freeway
without getting [Eb] killed, I'd _
[Bb] be down and rolling
Dylan Thomas, [F]
you know, as far as writing goes,
Dylan Thomas, [C] Robert Service, Stephen Vincent Bonet,
[Eb] I mean, those kind of _ _ towns and I used [Bb] every time we'd start thinking we were pretty cool,
pretty smart, [F] pretty good, you know, we'd put on a tape of Dylan Thomas reading his own work, _
[Bb] _ bring you right back to earth.
[Bm] I guess the rattle's waiting for [G] the train
_ My favorite version of any song of mine that anybody's done is,
remember Slim Pickens, the old cowboy actor?
He read Desperado's Waiting for a Train as a [Gb] poem over the music.
[D] I mean, it's _ _ like, God, [Eb] you know.
That picture hanging on the wall was painted by a friend
Yeah, Step Inside This House, it was the first song I wrote
and I played it for a long time and it always struck me as kind of a first effort,
kind of amateur writing, and I [Bb] _
_ _ forgot it, I never did it.
And one night we were _ _ [Eb] playing that songwriter's show,
me and Lyle and Joe Ealy and John Hyatt in New York City,
_ [Bb] and there was sort of a moderator guy who asked everybody in turn,
play a song you wish you had written.
_ And I played a Joe Ealy song and Joe played probably a Butch Hancock song,
I don't know what John played, and Lyle started playing that song
and he was two verses and a chorus into it before I realized it was my song.
I completely forgot it.
[Eb] And he just does it so much better than I ever did,
and I just, [A] there was no reason to [D] do it. _ _
[G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Em] I think [A] it's always been for me, it's been a song called [D] She Ain't Going Nowhere.
_ [Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she's [D] just leaving _ _ _
_ [Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she [D] can't breathe [G] _ in
[Em] This is one of [E] the earlier songs I wrote, because one, it only took about 45 minutes,
but it's just so [D] succinct and so [G] _ clean, the writing of it, it's not [D] cluttered at all.
I probably got the original paper I wrote it on, there's not [E] one word scratched out.
[D] It's just _
_ _ [Em] moments of clarity that you happen to have a [F] pencil in your hands.
His [G] head just fell down on his chest, _ [C] he says everything that he gets
[Bb] Just that they [Gb] were involved with it, that it touched them in some way, that I _ did my [C] job.
I mean, I don't write these songs just to sit in a room and play to myself,
I write them to play for the folks, and hopefully [F] it makes some difference to them,
or at least makes them think, or [Gb] something.
I mean, I don't have any message, or I'm preaching to anybody, or have an agenda of any sort.
I'm usually lucky if I can remember them.
_ But, _ _ mostly that it's fun, it's supposed to be [E] fun.
Being [B] six years old, [G] I had seen some trains before, [A] so it's hard to figure [E] out
Being born here and growing up in Texas, _ [D] you're kind of imbued with this spirit of
You can do anything you say you can do.
There are no rules, there is no best there is.
Just do it.
_ Whatever it takes, do it. _
And you have this marvelous, _ _ _
_ _ [G] I don't know what it is,
all this wonderful storytelling input.
I mean, Texas is known for storytellers and bullshitters.
_ _ And that just seems to fit _ perfectly into writing songs.
Oh my mama, [C] ain't that [Gm] Texas lookin' [G] something?
Oh my mama, ain't that Texas lookin' something? _ _ _ _ _ _
Well, I started playing guitar when I was like a junior in high school, I guess.
My father's law partner was a woman named Lola Bonner,
and she just graduated from the University of Texas.
_ _ And all she knew were border songs, Mexican music in South Texas.
And so first year I played the guitar, I didn't know any songs in English.
And _ _ _ [Bb] then kind of got into traditional folk music,
and had always been exposed to really good writing, good poetry.
_ _ _ _ And [A] the writing of songs just was the natural thing to do [E] next.
And [D] that [E] old time [A] _
feeling
[B] Well, I think a good song is a song that allows the listener to associate with it,
to relate to it in some way, which has got to do with the way you write.
_ _ You have to leave holes in the right place.
You can't detail everything perfectly, or they have no room to get inside it,
or to allow it to [Bb] touch them.
It's like good guitar players, it's not the licks they play, it's the holes they play.
[C] _ [Eb] I can just get off of [F] this LA [Bb] freeway without getting [Eb] killed
_ _ [Bb] I'd be down and rolling, probably smoked [Fm] too, so I'm laying
I ain't bogged, bogged, [Eb] bogged, if I can just get off [F] of this LA [Bb] freeway
without getting [Eb] killed, I'd _
[Bb] be down and rolling
Dylan Thomas, [F]
you know, as far as writing goes,
Dylan Thomas, [C] Robert Service, Stephen Vincent Bonet,
[Eb] I mean, those kind of _ _ towns and I used [Bb] every time we'd start thinking we were pretty cool,
pretty smart, [F] pretty good, you know, we'd put on a tape of Dylan Thomas reading his own work, _
[Bb] _ bring you right back to earth.
[Bm] I guess the rattle's waiting for [G] the train
_ My favorite version of any song of mine that anybody's done is,
remember Slim Pickens, the old cowboy actor?
He read Desperado's Waiting for a Train as a [Gb] poem over the music.
[D] I mean, it's _ _ like, God, [Eb] you know.
That picture hanging on the wall was painted by a friend
Yeah, Step Inside This House, it was the first song I wrote
and I played it for a long time and it always struck me as kind of a first effort,
kind of amateur writing, and I [Bb] _
_ _ forgot it, I never did it.
And one night we were _ _ [Eb] playing that songwriter's show,
me and Lyle and Joe Ealy and John Hyatt in New York City,
_ [Bb] and there was sort of a moderator guy who asked everybody in turn,
play a song you wish you had written.
_ And I played a Joe Ealy song and Joe played probably a Butch Hancock song,
I don't know what John played, and Lyle started playing that song
and he was two verses and a chorus into it before I realized it was my song.
I completely forgot it.
[Eb] And he just does it so much better than I ever did,
and I just, [A] there was no reason to [D] do it. _ _
[G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Em] I think [A] it's always been for me, it's been a song called [D] She Ain't Going Nowhere.
_ [Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she's [D] just leaving _ _ _
_ [Bm] She ain't going [A] nowhere, she [D] can't breathe [G] _ in
[Em] This is one of [E] the earlier songs I wrote, because one, it only took about 45 minutes,
but it's just so [D] succinct and so [G] _ clean, the writing of it, it's not [D] cluttered at all.
I probably got the original paper I wrote it on, there's not [E] one word scratched out.
[D] It's just _
_ _ [Em] moments of clarity that you happen to have a [F] pencil in your hands.
His [G] head just fell down on his chest, _ [C] he says everything that he gets
[Bb] Just that they [Gb] were involved with it, that it touched them in some way, that I _ did my [C] job.
I mean, I don't write these songs just to sit in a room and play to myself,
I write them to play for the folks, and hopefully [F] it makes some difference to them,
or at least makes them think, or [Gb] something.
I mean, I don't have any message, or I'm preaching to anybody, or have an agenda of any sort.
I'm usually lucky if I can remember them.
_ But, _ _ mostly that it's fun, it's supposed to be [E] fun.
Being [B] six years old, [G] I had seen some trains before, [A] so it's hard to figure [E] out
Being born here and growing up in Texas, _ [D] you're kind of imbued with this spirit of
You can do anything you say you can do.
There are no rules, there is no best there is.
Just do it.
_ Whatever it takes, do it. _
And you have this marvelous, _ _ _
_ _ [G] I don't know what it is,
all this wonderful storytelling input.
I mean, Texas is known for storytellers and bullshitters.
_ _ And that just seems to fit _ perfectly into writing songs.
Oh my mama, [C] ain't that [Gm] Texas lookin' [G] something?
Oh my mama, ain't that Texas lookin' something? _ _ _ _ _ _
Facts about this song