Chords for Kris Kristofferson - To beat the devil (Breakthrough, 1989)

[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
It was wintertime in Nashville [Eb] down on Music City [Bb] Road. _
I was looking for a place to [F] get myself out of the cold, _
[Eb] to [F] warm the frozen feeling [Bb] that was eating at [Gm] my soul, _
[Eb] _ keep the chilly wind off [F] of my guitar. _ _
[Bb] _ My thirsty wanted [Eb] whiskey, my hungry needed [Bb] beans.
_ But it had been a month of payday [F] since I had heard that eagle scream.
_ [Eb] So with a [F] stomach full of empty [Bb] and a [Gm] pocket full of dreams,
[Eb] I left my [F] pride and stepped inside a [Bb] bar. _ _
[Gm] _ _ Actually, I guess you'd call [Eb] it a tavern.
Cigarette smoke to the [Cm] ceiling and sawdust on [Em] the floor.
[F] _ _ _
[Bb] Friendly shadows. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Soft there was just one old [Eb] man sitting at [Bb] the bar.
_ In the mirror I could see him checking [F] me and my guitar.
_ _ [Eb] And he turned [Bb] and said, come up here boy, show [Gm] us what you are.
[Eb] I said I'm dry.
He bought [F] me a beer. _
_ [Bb] _ He nodded at my guitar and [Eb] said it's a tough life, eh?
[Bb] _ I just looked at it.
_ [F] I said you ain't making any money, are you?
[Eb] I [F] said you've been reading my mail.
[Bb] He just [Gm] smiled and said let me [Eb] see that guitar.
[F] I got [Bb] something you ought to hear.
_ Then he laid it on me.
If you waste your time talking [Eb] to people who don't listen [Bb] to the things that you are saying,
[F] who do you think's going to hear?
[Bb] And if you should die explaining how [Eb] things that they [Bb] complained about are things they couldn't change,
[F] who do you [Bb] think's going to care?
_ There [F] were other lonely singers [Eb] in a world [Bb] turned deaf and blind
[Eb] who were [Bb] crucified for what they [F] tried to show. _
[Bb] And their voices have been scattered [Eb] by the swirling [Bb] winds of time.
But the truth [F] remains that no one [Bb] wants to know. _ _
_ _ _ Well that old man was a stranger, [Eb] but I'd heard his [Bb] song before.
_ _ Back when failure had me [F] locked out on the wrong side of the door.
_ [Eb] _ [F] When nothing stood behind [Bb] me but my shadow [Gm] on the floor.
_ [Eb] _ _ Lonesome was [F] more than a state of mind.
_ _ [Bb] _ _ You see the [Eb] devil haunts the hungry man.
[Bb] _ _ If you don't want to join [F] him, _ you've got to beat him.
[Eb] _ _ [F] I ain't [Bb] saying I beat the devil, [Gm] _ [Eb] but I drank his beer for [F] nothing.
[Bb] Then I stole his song. _ _ _ _
And you still can hear me singing [Eb] to the people who don't listen [Bb] to the things that I'm saying, [F] praise. _ _
[Bb] I guess I'll die explaining [Eb] how the things that they complain [Bb] about are things they couldn't change.
[F] Hoping someone's [Bb] going to care. _
I [F] was born a lonely singer [Eb] and I'm [Bb] bound to die the same.
[Eb] But I've got to [Bb] feed the hunger in [F] my soul.
And if [Bb] I never have a nickel, [Eb] I will [Bb] never die ashamed.
Because I don't [F] believe that no one [Bb] wants to know. _
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