Chords for Jackson Browne - The Pretender (Solo Piano) (BBC TV 1994)

This song was written in Los Angeles and in a _ tacky hotel room in Hawaii
and _ _ _ _ _ [G] in a storefront that I rented to write in, in North Hollywood. _
_ And actually, [E] it was almost finished before I discovered [D] this sort of theme, this_
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ [C] And the whole song sort of opened up and became _ [F#] about twice as long.
[G] _ _ And [Gm] someone asked me what, you know, who the pretender [G] is,
and _ _ it's _ always _ [G] been my pleasure to sort of avoid answering that question.
_ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G#] Because it's not me exactly, although sometimes people _ [C] _ _ [G#] applaud for me at that moment
and that's in the song as if I am, but in truth, you know, there is some of the pretender in me,
but it's anybody that's sort of [G#m] lost _ sight of some of their dreams
and is trying to make, sort of going through the motions,
trying to make a stab at a certain way of life that he sees other people [C] succeeding at.
_ [G] So maybe it's a lot of people of a certain generation
who sort of [E] embraced a very material lifestyle in place of dreams that they had
_ [G] _ _
that sort of disintegrated at some point. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ I'm gonna rent myself a house in the shade of [C] the freeway _ _
_ _ [G] Gonna pack my lunch in the morning and go to [D] work each [C] day
_ And when [G] the evening rolls [C] around _ [Am] _ [G] I'll go on home and lay my body [C] down
And when the [G] morning light comes streaming [D] in I'll get up and [C] do it again _ _
Amen, say it again, [C] _ [G] _ amen
I wanna know what became of the changes we waited [C] for love to bring
_ _ Were [G] they only the fitful dream of some greater [D] _ awakening _
[C] I've _ [G] been aware of the time going [C] by
They [G] say in the end it's the wink of an [C] eye
And [G] when the morning light comes [D] streaming in I'll get up and [C] do it again _
[G] _ Yeah, _ [C] _ [G] yeah _
[G] _ _ _ [D] Between the love _ [Dm] and the struggle for the [Em] legal tender _ _
[B] _ _ _ Where [C] the sirens sing and the church bells ring
[D] And [Em] the junk man pounds his fender
_ [C] While the veterans _ dream of [G] the fight
[B] Fast asleep at the traffic [Em] light
And [A] the children _ solemnly [Am] wait for the ice [D] cream [F#m] vendor _
[Em] _ _ [D] Out [C] into the cool of the [D] evening _ strolls the [Em] pretender _ _ _
_ _ He [C] knows that all his hopes and [D] dreams _ _ [G] begin and end there
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ [C] Oh, the laughter of the lovers as they run through [G] the night _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ Leaving nothing for the others but to choose, hope [Em] and fight _ _
[Cm] _ And tear at [G] the world with all their [C] might
While the [G] ships bearing [Em] their dreams set on [D] a side _
_ _ I'm [G] gonna find myself a girl _ who can show me what [C] laughter means
_ _ _ And we'll fill in the missing colors in each [D] other's paint-by-number [C] dreams
And [G] we'll put our dark [C] glasses on
And [G] we'll make love until [C] our strength is gone
And [G] when the morning light comes [D] streaming in
We'll get up and [C] do it again _ _
[G] _ _ Get it [C] up again _ _
[G] _ _ I'm gonna [D] be an idiot [Dm] and struggle for the legal [G] tender
_ [Em] _ _
[B] _ _ _ [C] Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
[Em] To the heart and the soul of the spender
And [C] believe in what I've [G] remained alive
In [B] those things that money can [Em] buy
_ [A] Though true _ [C#] love could help in a [D] contender
[F#m] Are _ [D] _ _ [C] you there?
[G] Say a prayer [Bm] for the [Em] pretender
Started _ _ _ _ [C] out so young and strong
[D] _ Only to [G] surrender _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ [C] _ _ Say a prayer _ for the pretender _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ Are you there for the [G] pretender? _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _
[F#m] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _