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.
_ _ [Ab]
While he was reciting some poetry to me that he'd written, I saw that he was about a step
away from dying.
[G] I couldn't help but wonder why. _ _
_ _ And the lines of this song occurred to me.
I'm [N] 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.
[G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ It was wintertime in Nashville, [C] down on Music City [G] Road.
_ And I was looking for a place to [D] get myself out of the cold.
_ [C] To [D] warm the frozen feeling [G] that was eating at [Em] my soul.
_ [C] _ Keep the chilly wind [D] off my guitar.
_ _ [G] My thirsty wanted whiskey.
[C]
My [G] hunger needed beans.
_ But it had been a month of [D] payday since I'd heard that eagle scream.
_ [C] [D] So with a stomach full of [G] empty and [Em] a pocket full of dreams, [C] _ [D] I left my pride and stepped
inside a [G] bar.
_ _ [Em] _ Actually, I guess you'd call [C] it a tavern.
_ Cigarette [Am] smoke to the ceiling and sawdust on the floor.
[D] _
_ _ [G] Friendly shadows. _ _ _
_ _ _ I saw that there was just one [C] old man [G] sitting at the bar.
_ And in the mirror I could see him [D] checking me and my guitar.
_ [C] And he [D] turned and said, come up here, [G] boy, and show us what you are.
[Em] _ [C] I said, I'm dry.
[D] He bought me a beer.
_ _ [G] He nodded at my guitar and [C] said, it's a tough [G] life, ain't it?
_ I just looked at him.
He [D] said, you ain't making any money, are you?
_ [C] I said, you've [D] 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 [C] to the people who don't listen to [G] the things that you are
saying, [D] who do you think's going to hear?
[G] And if you should die explaining how [C] the things that they complain about [G] are things they could be changing?
[D] Who do you think's going [G] to care? _
There [D] were other lonely singers [C] in a world turned deaf [G] and blind who [C] were crucified [G] for
what they [D] tried to show. _ _
[G] And their voices have been scattered [C] by the swirling [G] winds 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 song [G] before.
_ Back when failure had me locked [D] out on the wrong side of the door.
_ [C] [D] When no one stood behind me but [G] 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 ain't [D] 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 to [G] the things that I am saying
and [D] praying someone's going to hear.
And [G] I guess I'll die explaining how [C] the things that they complain about [G] are things they could
be changing, [D] hoping [G] someone's going to care.
_ I [D] was born a lonely singer and I'm [C] bound to [G] die the same.
[C] But I've got to [G] feed the hunger [D] in my soul.
_ [G] And if I never have a nickel, [C] I won't ever die a [G] shame
because I don't [D] believe that no one [G] wants to know. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _