Chords for Mean Talking Blues - Woody Guthrie
Tempo:
120.5 bpm
Chords used:
A
E
D
C#
F#m
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[A]
[D]
[E] [A] [C#] [F#m]
[A] Well, I'm the meanest [D] man that ever had a brain.
[E] All I scatter [A] is aches and pains.
A carbolic [D] acid and a poisoned [E] face, and I stand flat-footed in favor of crime [A] and disgrace.
[D] I ever done a good deed?
[E] I'm sorry of it.
[A] I'm mean in the [D] East and mean in the [E] West, mean to the people that like the [A] best.
I go around and cause a lot of [D] accidents, and I [E] push folks around and I cause [A] train wrecks.
[D] I'm a big disaster [A] [E] just going somewhere to [A] happen.
[D] I'm an organized famine [A] studying [E] how I can be a little bit [A] meaner.
[C] [C#] [A]
Everybody in this world [Dm] looks mean to [E] me.
There's nothing prettier or good on earth that I [A] can see.
Steal the [D] nickels off of dead people's eyes, and [E] I spend them trying to learn how to get
a little wiser, be a little meaner.
Still too good [A] to suit myself.
Mean.
[D] That's all.
[E]
Just plain [A] old mean.
I ride around on the subway [D] trains laughing at the tight shoes [E] dealing the pain.
I laugh when the car shakes from side to side, and I laugh loudest when other people cry.
I just can't help it, I guess.
I was born good, just like you, but I turned [A] off mean.
I hate [D] everybody don't think like [E] me, and I'd rather see you dead than never see you free.
[A] I'd rather see you starve to [D] death than see you at work, and [E] I'm reading all I can now
to learn how to hurt, deal misery, spread diseases, keep you without no vote, keep you
without no [A] union.
I hurt when I [D] see you getting along so [E] well.
I ten times rather see you in the fires of hell.
[A] I couldn't stand to see [D] you in a house fixed [E] nice.
I'd like to keep you in that rotten hole there all full of bugs and [A] lice, roaches, [D] termites,
[E] sand fleas, tater bugs, grub worms, stinger reeds, vinegarones, [A] translers, spiders, [D] childs
of the earth, [E] ticks and blowflies, and these is all my little angels help me to do the
best part of my meanness.
And [A] mosquitoes.
Well, I used to be [D] a pretty nice feller, [E] but I turned to scab and then I turned yellow
and I [A] fought every union with teeth and toenail and I [E] sprouted a six-inch stinger right in my tail.
I [A] growed horns.
[D] I cut them off.
[E] I wanted to fool you.
I hate union everywhere because God likes unions and I hate [A] God.
If I can get the [D] fat to hate and the lean, that'd [E] tickle me more than anything I've seen.
And I'd get [A] colors to fight one another, [D] friend against friend and sister against [E] brother.
That'll be it.
To stripe it against the polka dots.
That'll be just it.
Everybody's brains are boiling in turpentine, their teeth falling out all up and down the sidewalks.
That'll just suit me.
[A] I ain't no union man [D] because I hate [A] everything that's [E] organized and planned.
I love to hate and I hate to love.
[A] I'm mean.
[D] Just mean. [E] That's all.
Just plain old [A] mean.
[D]
[E] [A] [C#] [F#m]
[A] Well, I'm the meanest [D] man that ever had a brain.
[E] All I scatter [A] is aches and pains.
A carbolic [D] acid and a poisoned [E] face, and I stand flat-footed in favor of crime [A] and disgrace.
[D] I ever done a good deed?
[E] I'm sorry of it.
[A] I'm mean in the [D] East and mean in the [E] West, mean to the people that like the [A] best.
I go around and cause a lot of [D] accidents, and I [E] push folks around and I cause [A] train wrecks.
[D] I'm a big disaster [A] [E] just going somewhere to [A] happen.
[D] I'm an organized famine [A] studying [E] how I can be a little bit [A] meaner.
[C] [C#] [A]
Everybody in this world [Dm] looks mean to [E] me.
There's nothing prettier or good on earth that I [A] can see.
Steal the [D] nickels off of dead people's eyes, and [E] I spend them trying to learn how to get
a little wiser, be a little meaner.
Still too good [A] to suit myself.
Mean.
[D] That's all.
[E]
Just plain [A] old mean.
I ride around on the subway [D] trains laughing at the tight shoes [E] dealing the pain.
I laugh when the car shakes from side to side, and I laugh loudest when other people cry.
I just can't help it, I guess.
I was born good, just like you, but I turned [A] off mean.
I hate [D] everybody don't think like [E] me, and I'd rather see you dead than never see you free.
[A] I'd rather see you starve to [D] death than see you at work, and [E] I'm reading all I can now
to learn how to hurt, deal misery, spread diseases, keep you without no vote, keep you
without no [A] union.
I hurt when I [D] see you getting along so [E] well.
I ten times rather see you in the fires of hell.
[A] I couldn't stand to see [D] you in a house fixed [E] nice.
I'd like to keep you in that rotten hole there all full of bugs and [A] lice, roaches, [D] termites,
[E] sand fleas, tater bugs, grub worms, stinger reeds, vinegarones, [A] translers, spiders, [D] childs
of the earth, [E] ticks and blowflies, and these is all my little angels help me to do the
best part of my meanness.
And [A] mosquitoes.
Well, I used to be [D] a pretty nice feller, [E] but I turned to scab and then I turned yellow
and I [A] fought every union with teeth and toenail and I [E] sprouted a six-inch stinger right in my tail.
I [A] growed horns.
[D] I cut them off.
[E] I wanted to fool you.
I hate union everywhere because God likes unions and I hate [A] God.
If I can get the [D] fat to hate and the lean, that'd [E] tickle me more than anything I've seen.
And I'd get [A] colors to fight one another, [D] friend against friend and sister against [E] brother.
That'll be it.
To stripe it against the polka dots.
That'll be just it.
Everybody's brains are boiling in turpentine, their teeth falling out all up and down the sidewalks.
That'll just suit me.
[A] I ain't no union man [D] because I hate [A] everything that's [E] organized and planned.
I love to hate and I hate to love.
[A] I'm mean.
[D] Just mean. [E] That's all.
Just plain old [A] mean.
Key:
A
E
D
C#
F#m
A
E
D
[A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[E] _ [A] _ _ [C#] _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ Well, I'm the meanest [D] man that ever had a brain.
[E] All I scatter [A] is aches and pains.
_ A carbolic [D] acid and a poisoned [E] face, and I stand flat-footed in favor of crime [A] and disgrace. _ _
[D] I ever done a good deed?
[E] I'm sorry of it.
[A] _ _ _ I'm mean in the [D] East and mean in the [E] West, mean to the people that like the [A] best.
I go around and cause a lot of [D] accidents, and I [E] push folks around and I cause [A] train wrecks. _
[D] I'm a big disaster [A] [E] just going somewhere to [A] happen.
_ _ [D] I'm an organized famine [A] studying [E] how I can be a little bit [A] meaner. _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ [C#] _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ Everybody in this world [Dm] looks mean to [E] me.
There's nothing prettier or good on earth that I [A] can see. _ _
Steal the [D] nickels off of dead people's eyes, and [E] I spend them trying to learn how to get
a little wiser, _ _ be a little meaner.
_ _ Still too good [A] to suit myself. _ _ _ _ _
Mean.
[D] That's all.
_ [E] _ _
Just plain [A] old mean. _ _ _
I ride around on the subway [D] trains laughing at the tight shoes [E] dealing the pain.
I laugh when the car shakes from side to side, and I laugh loudest when other people cry. _
I just can't help it, I guess.
I was born good, just like you, _ but I turned [A] off mean. _
I hate [D] everybody don't think like [E] me, and I'd rather see you dead than never see you free.
_ [A] I'd rather see you starve to [D] death than see you at work, and [E] I'm reading all I can now
to learn how to hurt, deal misery, _ spread diseases, _ keep you without no vote, _ keep you
without no [A] union.
_ _ _ _ I hurt when I [D] see you getting along so [E] well.
I ten times rather see you in the fires of hell.
_ [A] I couldn't stand to see [D] you in a house fixed [E] nice.
I'd like to keep you in that rotten hole there all full of bugs and [A] lice, _ roaches, [D] termites,
[E] sand fleas, tater bugs, grub worms, stinger reeds, vinegarones, [A] translers, spiders, [D] childs
of the earth, [E] ticks and blowflies, and these is all my little angels _ help me to do the
best part of my meanness.
And [A] mosquitoes.
_ _ Well, I used to be [D] a pretty nice feller, [E] but I turned to scab and then I turned yellow
and I [A] fought every union with teeth and toenail and I [E] sprouted a six-inch stinger right in my tail.
I [A] growed horns.
_ [D] I cut them off.
_ [E] I wanted to fool you.
I hate union everywhere because God likes unions and I hate [A] God.
_ If I can get the [D] fat to hate and the lean, that'd [E] tickle me more than anything I've seen.
And I'd get [A] colors to fight one another, [D] friend against friend and sister against [E] brother.
That'll be it.
To stripe it against the polka dots.
_ That'll be just it.
Everybody's brains are boiling in turpentine, their teeth falling out all up and down the _ sidewalks.
That'll just suit me.
_ [A] I ain't no union man [D] because I hate [A] everything that's [E] organized and planned.
I love to hate and I hate to love.
[A] I'm mean.
[D] _ Just mean. [E] That's all.
Just plain old [A] mean. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[E] _ [A] _ _ [C#] _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ Well, I'm the meanest [D] man that ever had a brain.
[E] All I scatter [A] is aches and pains.
_ A carbolic [D] acid and a poisoned [E] face, and I stand flat-footed in favor of crime [A] and disgrace. _ _
[D] I ever done a good deed?
[E] I'm sorry of it.
[A] _ _ _ I'm mean in the [D] East and mean in the [E] West, mean to the people that like the [A] best.
I go around and cause a lot of [D] accidents, and I [E] push folks around and I cause [A] train wrecks. _
[D] I'm a big disaster [A] [E] just going somewhere to [A] happen.
_ _ [D] I'm an organized famine [A] studying [E] how I can be a little bit [A] meaner. _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ [C#] _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ Everybody in this world [Dm] looks mean to [E] me.
There's nothing prettier or good on earth that I [A] can see. _ _
Steal the [D] nickels off of dead people's eyes, and [E] I spend them trying to learn how to get
a little wiser, _ _ be a little meaner.
_ _ Still too good [A] to suit myself. _ _ _ _ _
Mean.
[D] That's all.
_ [E] _ _
Just plain [A] old mean. _ _ _
I ride around on the subway [D] trains laughing at the tight shoes [E] dealing the pain.
I laugh when the car shakes from side to side, and I laugh loudest when other people cry. _
I just can't help it, I guess.
I was born good, just like you, _ but I turned [A] off mean. _
I hate [D] everybody don't think like [E] me, and I'd rather see you dead than never see you free.
_ [A] I'd rather see you starve to [D] death than see you at work, and [E] I'm reading all I can now
to learn how to hurt, deal misery, _ spread diseases, _ keep you without no vote, _ keep you
without no [A] union.
_ _ _ _ I hurt when I [D] see you getting along so [E] well.
I ten times rather see you in the fires of hell.
_ [A] I couldn't stand to see [D] you in a house fixed [E] nice.
I'd like to keep you in that rotten hole there all full of bugs and [A] lice, _ roaches, [D] termites,
[E] sand fleas, tater bugs, grub worms, stinger reeds, vinegarones, [A] translers, spiders, [D] childs
of the earth, [E] ticks and blowflies, and these is all my little angels _ help me to do the
best part of my meanness.
And [A] mosquitoes.
_ _ Well, I used to be [D] a pretty nice feller, [E] but I turned to scab and then I turned yellow
and I [A] fought every union with teeth and toenail and I [E] sprouted a six-inch stinger right in my tail.
I [A] growed horns.
_ [D] I cut them off.
_ [E] I wanted to fool you.
I hate union everywhere because God likes unions and I hate [A] God.
_ If I can get the [D] fat to hate and the lean, that'd [E] tickle me more than anything I've seen.
And I'd get [A] colors to fight one another, [D] friend against friend and sister against [E] brother.
That'll be it.
To stripe it against the polka dots.
_ That'll be just it.
Everybody's brains are boiling in turpentine, their teeth falling out all up and down the _ sidewalks.
That'll just suit me.
_ [A] I ain't no union man [D] because I hate [A] everything that's [E] organized and planned.
I love to hate and I hate to love.
[A] I'm mean.
[D] _ Just mean. [E] That's all.
Just plain old [A] mean. _ _