Bluesman Chords by Harry Chapin

_ [Em] _ [G#] _ [F#m] _ _ _ [Am] _ [F#m] _
[Am] _ [A] _ [Em] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Em] [G#] The [F#m] kid heard the word up in [Am] Brooklyn, [A] it was his second year of medical [Em] school.
[Am] He went in his stash [F#m] and jeans [Am] into his guitar [A] case.
His father said, you're a [G] fool.
[D] But the boy jumped on board a Greyhound bus.
It took a few days to get to Mobile.
[E] And though it took two weeks to track the old [D] man down, he never doubted that the rumor [F#] was real.
_ [A] But then the old man stood [D] by the [A] storefront with his white cane hanging from his belt.
And he was [C#] banning the [F#m] steel of his guitar [A] strings, so it seemed like the metal had to melt.
[G] He [D] was the last of the street corner singers, paying his final years of dues.
[E] The boss in his boat was like a bullfrog, [D] quote, yes, it's he who invented the blues.
_ To [A] play the blues, [F#m] boy, you [D] got to live and got to choose, boy.
You know you got to [E] give and got to stall, [C#m] sweet, like [G#m] a slow [A] blues rhythm, like a [F#m] heartbeat.
You'll always be with them [D] when you're married to [C] the blues, [C#] boy.
[D] Your guitar is your [C#] [C] wife, it's like that [D] final woman [F] who [G] you're faithful [A] to for life.
Well, the kid [F#m] walks [Am] up as the blind man's [A] standing and with bent the foot, his guitar away.
The old man heard him and said, who are you?
I'm the kid you're going to teach to play, Dad.
[D] The old man laughed, but the kid kept talking about how well he'd help him get around.
[E] That's when the old man said, I don't need no fool [Dm] to get me where in the hell I'm bound.
[Em] _ [D] _ [G#] _ [Am] _ _ [F#m] _ _ [Am] _
_ [F#m] _ _ The kid nods his head with a great big [Am] grin and says, [F#m] when do we begin?
That's [C#m] when the old [F#m] man said, if you're staying [Em] with me, this is how [E] it's got to be.
[A] To play the blues, boy, you got to live [D] and got to choose, boy.
You know you got to [E] give and got to [D#] stall, sweet, [B] like a slow blues [C#m] rhythm, like a heartbeat.
You'll always [Am] be with them when you're married to the blues, [Dm] boy.
Your [Am] guitar is [D] your [C] wife.
It's like that [D] fine old woman who [F] you're [G] faithful [A] to for life.
_ You know I [F#m] ain't no [Am] guru.
[A] I'm just a blind black preacher man.
My guitar is my gospel boy and I preach [C#] with my picket hand.
[A]
[D] I ain't going to be [G] your wedding nun [D] or black father to an albino [Bm] son.
[E] That's okay to get up and say, I just want to [F#] pick like a [A] son of a gun.
[Bm] Whoa, [D] boy, that ain't no [G#] damn tie-bride [G#m] of your playing.
[G#] Got to caress it like a woman.
[B] So easy, [G#m] like this old [D] man. _
_ [F#m] Now, a fool plays the [Am] blues like machine gun, tell [F] it.
Five hundred [G] notes to the bar.
And if you're gonna [F] stick with me, [F#] you're gonna learn what the blues really [B] are.
You learn to pick with [G#m] me and you can stick with me.
But it's time to blow this town.
[D#m] We got the kid to [G#m] preach in a gaming [B] house.
So _ _ [E] the kid took the hand of [G] the old [E] blues man [Bm] to lead him all around the [E] South.
[F#] Now it's the old man's turn to make the white boy learn.
[E] You don't play guitar with your mouth.
[G] _ [D] _ [G#m] To play the blues, boy, you got to live and got to do, boy.
You know you got to give and got to slow and sweet like a slow blues rhythm like a heartbeat.
[B] You'll always be with him [G#] when you're married to the blues boy.
Your guitar is your [A#m] wife.
[D] He's like that [E] fine old woman who [G] you're [A] faithful [B] to all life. _
All right, son, let's hear some guitar.
_ [Bm] I want you to play it funky like your uncle, Pa Bunkle.
_ _ _ [E] That's right, son.
Play it sassy like your sweet mama's [Bm] pajamas.
[G#m] _
_ _ _ [G] That sounds [E] pretty good, boy. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ [A] _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ [E] _