To Beat The Devil Chords by Kris Kristofferson

[G] A couple of years back I come across a great and wasted friend of mine in the hallway of
a recording studio. _ _
And while he was reciting [Abm] some poetry to me that [G] he'd written, I saw that he was about
a step away from dying.
[B] And I [D] couldn't help but wonder why.
_ [G] _ _ _ _ And the lines of this song occurred to me. _
I'm happy to say he's no longer wasted and he's got him a good woman.
_ And I'd like to dedicate this to John and June who helped show me how to beat the devil. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ It was winter time in Nashville, [C] down on Music City [G] Road. _ _
And I was looking for a place [D] to get myself out of the cold. _
[C] _ [D] To warm the frozen feeling that [G] was eating at [Em] my soul.
_ [C] _ _ Keep the chilly wind [D] off my guitar.
_ _ [G] _ My thirsty wanted whiskey.
[C] _
My hunger [G] needed beans.
_ But it had been a month of payday [D] since I'd heard that eagle scream.
_ _ [C] So with a [D] stomach full of empty [G] and a [Em] pocket full of dreams, [C] _
I left [D] my pride and stepped
[G] inside a bar. _ _ _
[Em] _ Actually, I guess you'd call it [C] a tavern. _ _
Cigarette [Am] smoked at the ceiling and sawdust on the floor.
[D] _ _ _
_ [G] Friendly shadows. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ I saw that there was just one old [C] man sitting [G] at the bar.
_ _ And in the mirror I could see him [D] checking me and my guitar.
_ _ [C] And he turned [D] and said, come up here, [G] boy, and show us what you [Em] are.
_ [C]
I said, I'm dry.
[D] And he bought me a beer. _ _ _
[G] He nodded at my guitar [C] and said, it's [G] a tough life, ain't it?
_ I just looked at him.
He [D] said, you ain't making any money, are you?
_ [C] I [D] said, you've been reading my mail.
[G]
He just [E] smiled and said, let me see that [C] guitar.
_ [D] I got something you [G] ought to hear.
Then he laid it on me. _ _ _
If you waste your time talking to [C] the people who don't listen [G] to the things that you are saying,
[D] who do you think's going to hear?
[G] And if you should die explaining [C] how the things that they complain about [G] are things they could
be changing, who [D] do you think's going [G] to care? _ _
[D] There were other lonely singers in [C] a world turned [G] deaf and blind who [C] were crucified [G] for what they [D] tried to show.
_ And [G] their voices have been scattered by [C] the swirling winds [G] of time, because the truth [D] remains that no one [G] wants to know. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Well, the old man was a stranger.
[C] But I'd heard his [G] song before.
_ Back when failure had me [D] locked out on the wrong side of the door.
_ [C] When [D] no one stood behind [G] me but my shadow on the [Em] floor.
_ [C] And lonesome was more than [D] a state of mind.
_ _ _ [G] You see, the devil haunts a [C] hungry man.
_ [G] _ _
If you don't want to join him, [D] you've got to beat him. _ _
[C] I [D] ain't saying I beat the devil, [G] _ _ [Em] but I drank his beer for nothing.
[C] _ _ _ [D] Then [G] I stole his song. _ _ _ _ _ _
And you still can hear me singing to [C] the people who don't listen [G] to the things that I am saying,
[D] praying someone's going to hear.
[G] And I guess I'll die explaining how [C] the things that they complain about [G] are things they could change,
[D] hoping someone's [G] going to care.
_ I [D] was born a lonely singer, and I'm [C] bound to die [G] the same.
[C] But I've got to [G] feed the hunger in my [D] soul.
_ [G] And if I never have a nickel, I [C] will never die a [G] shame,
because I don't [D] believe that no one [G] wants to know. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _