No Charge Chords by Shirley Caesar

[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ My sister's little boy came into the kitchen one evening while she was fixing [F] supper
and he handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on
and after wiping her hands on her apron, she took the letter in her hands and she read it.
[Bb] And this is what it said.
[Cm] _ [Bb] _ [Eb] For mowing the yard, five dollars.
And for making up my own bed this week, [F] one dollar.
For going to the store, fifty cents.
And playing with little brother while you went shopping, [Bb] _
twenty-five cents.
[Eb] _ [Eb] _ Taking out the trash, [Bb] one dollar.
_ _ And for getting a [F] good report card, five dollars.
_ And for raking the yard, two dollars.
_ Total owed, _ [Bb] fourteen seventy-five.
_ _ While she looked at him standing there expecting,
_ and a thousand memories began to flash [F] through her mind,
_ so she picked up the pen and she turned the letter over.
[Bb] This is what she wrote to that little boy.
_ [Eb] [Dm] For [Eb] the nine months I carried you, growing inside me, [F] no chance.
For the nights I sat up with you, doctor, you prayed for [Bb] you, no chance.
_ For [Eb] the time and the tears [Bb] and the cost, through the years, [F] there is no chance.
_ When you ask _ the real cost of my love is [Bb] no chance.
[Cm] For [Eb] the nights filled with dread and the worry, _ _ _
[F] no chance.
_ For advice and the knowledge and the cost of your college, [Bb] no chance.
[Cm] _ [Bb] [Eb] For the toss food and clothes [Bb] and wiping your nose, _
[F] there's no charge, my son.
When you ask _ the real cost of my [Bb] love is no charge.
_ After that mom finished talking to that little boy,
he looked up at her with great big old tears in his eyes and he said,
Mama, [F] I sure do love you.
And then he reached out and he got the letter and he turned it over
and he wrote in great big words, _ _ [Bb] played in the fool.
_ When [F] you ask _ the real cost of [Eb] my [Bb] love [Cm] is [Bb] no charge. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _