Chords for The Corries --- The Bricklayer's Song
Tempo:
51.55 bpm
Chords used:
E
B
C#m
A#m
D#
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Okay, probably most of you know that we don't actually do a lot of protest songs.
Well, not industrial ballads anyway.
We do protest songs of another type and
we'll keep going with those until the need [E] departs.
It is an industrial ballad with a difference.
We reckon the words are terrific and the
tune is a great tune as well [A#m] and it comes from the bad old days when in
order to get a day off work you really have to have a first-class excuse.
There was no use just walking in and saying the forage fell on my feet and I [E] couldn't make it.
There's a young lad who's had an accident on a building site and [D#] he can't even get to the work today
and he's writing in to his boss to explain his accident.
It's rather sad.
It's called the [E] Bricklayer Song.
[B] [E] [B]
[E] Yes sir, I write this note to you to tell you of [E] my plight.
For at the time [B] of writing it I'm not a pretty sight.
My body is all black and blue, my [C#m] guts are deadly.
[E] And I write this note to say why I am not at work today.
While working on the fourteen floors and bricks I had to grit,
but putting them down from such a height was not a good idea.
The foreman wasn't very [C#m] pleased, he is an awkward sod,
[E] and he said I had to cart them down the ladder in me hod.
Well, clearing all these bricks by hand it was so very slow,
so I hoisted up a barrel [B] and secured the rope below.
But in me [C#m] haste to do the job I was too blind to see
that a barrel full of building brick was [E] heavier than me.
And so when I untied the rope the barrel fell like lead,
and clinging tightly [B] to the rope I started up [A] instead.
I shot up like a rocket [C#m] and to my dismay I [E] bounced,
but halfway up I met the bloody barrel in me head.
The barrel broke me shoulder as to the ground it stead,
and when I reached the top I banged [B] the pulley with me head.
[C#m] But I clung on tightly, numb with shock from this almighty blow,
[E] while the barrels pulled out half a dozen fourteen floors below.
Well, when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor,
I then outweighed the barrel [B] and started down once more.
I clung on tightly [C#m] to the rope, me body wracked with pain,
[E] and halfway down I met the bloody barrel once again.
The force of this collision halfway down the office block
caused multiple abrasions [B] and a nasty case of shock.
But [C#m] I clung on tightly to the rope as I fell towards the [E] ground,
and I landed on the broken bricks the barrel had scattered round.
Well, as I lay there on the floor I thought I'd passed the risk,
but the barrel hit the pulley [B] wheel and then the four fingers.
A shower of bricks [C#m] rained down on me, I didn't have a [E] hope.
As I lay there bleeding on the ground I let go of the bloody rope.
The barrel now being heavier, it started down once more.
It landed right across me as I lay there on the [C#m] floor.
It broke three ribs in my left arm and I can only say,
I hope you'll understand why [E] I am not like you.
[B] [E] [A#] [A#m]
Well, not industrial ballads anyway.
We do protest songs of another type and
we'll keep going with those until the need [E] departs.
It is an industrial ballad with a difference.
We reckon the words are terrific and the
tune is a great tune as well [A#m] and it comes from the bad old days when in
order to get a day off work you really have to have a first-class excuse.
There was no use just walking in and saying the forage fell on my feet and I [E] couldn't make it.
There's a young lad who's had an accident on a building site and [D#] he can't even get to the work today
and he's writing in to his boss to explain his accident.
It's rather sad.
It's called the [E] Bricklayer Song.
[B] [E] [B]
[E] Yes sir, I write this note to you to tell you of [E] my plight.
For at the time [B] of writing it I'm not a pretty sight.
My body is all black and blue, my [C#m] guts are deadly.
[E] And I write this note to say why I am not at work today.
While working on the fourteen floors and bricks I had to grit,
but putting them down from such a height was not a good idea.
The foreman wasn't very [C#m] pleased, he is an awkward sod,
[E] and he said I had to cart them down the ladder in me hod.
Well, clearing all these bricks by hand it was so very slow,
so I hoisted up a barrel [B] and secured the rope below.
But in me [C#m] haste to do the job I was too blind to see
that a barrel full of building brick was [E] heavier than me.
And so when I untied the rope the barrel fell like lead,
and clinging tightly [B] to the rope I started up [A] instead.
I shot up like a rocket [C#m] and to my dismay I [E] bounced,
but halfway up I met the bloody barrel in me head.
The barrel broke me shoulder as to the ground it stead,
and when I reached the top I banged [B] the pulley with me head.
[C#m] But I clung on tightly, numb with shock from this almighty blow,
[E] while the barrels pulled out half a dozen fourteen floors below.
Well, when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor,
I then outweighed the barrel [B] and started down once more.
I clung on tightly [C#m] to the rope, me body wracked with pain,
[E] and halfway down I met the bloody barrel once again.
The force of this collision halfway down the office block
caused multiple abrasions [B] and a nasty case of shock.
But [C#m] I clung on tightly to the rope as I fell towards the [E] ground,
and I landed on the broken bricks the barrel had scattered round.
Well, as I lay there on the floor I thought I'd passed the risk,
but the barrel hit the pulley [B] wheel and then the four fingers.
A shower of bricks [C#m] rained down on me, I didn't have a [E] hope.
As I lay there bleeding on the ground I let go of the bloody rope.
The barrel now being heavier, it started down once more.
It landed right across me as I lay there on the [C#m] floor.
It broke three ribs in my left arm and I can only say,
I hope you'll understand why [E] I am not like you.
[B] [E] [A#] [A#m]
Key:
E
B
C#m
A#m
D#
E
B
C#m
_ _ Okay, probably most of you know that we don't actually do a lot of protest songs.
_ Well, not industrial ballads anyway.
We do protest songs of another type and
we'll keep going with those until the need [E] departs.
It is an industrial ballad with a difference.
We reckon the words are terrific and the
tune is a great tune as well [A#m] and it comes from the bad old days when in
order to get a day off work you really have to have a first-class excuse.
There was no use just walking in and saying the forage fell on my feet and I [E] couldn't make it.
There's a young lad who's had an accident on a building site and [D#] he can't even get to the work today
and he's writing in to his boss to explain his accident.
It's rather sad.
It's called the [E] Bricklayer Song.
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _
[E] Yes sir, I write this note to you to tell you of [E] my plight.
For at the time [B] of writing it I'm not a pretty sight.
My body is all black and blue, my [C#m] guts are deadly.
[E] And I write this note to say why I am not at work today.
_ _ While working on the fourteen floors and bricks I had to grit,
but putting them down from such a height was not a good idea.
The foreman wasn't very [C#m] pleased, he is an awkward sod,
[E] and he said I had to cart them down the ladder in me hod.
Well, clearing all these bricks by hand it was so very slow,
so I hoisted up a barrel [B] and secured the rope below.
But in me [C#m] haste to do the job I was too blind to see
that a barrel full of building brick was [E] heavier than me.
_ And so when I untied the rope the barrel fell like lead,
and clinging tightly [B] to the rope I started up [A] instead.
I shot up like a rocket [C#m] and to my dismay I [E] bounced,
but halfway up I met the bloody barrel in me head. _ _ _ _ _
The barrel broke me shoulder as to the ground it stead,
and when I reached the top I banged [B] the pulley with me head.
[C#m] But I clung on tightly, numb with shock from this almighty blow,
[E] while the barrels pulled out half a dozen fourteen floors below.
_ Well, when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor,
I then outweighed the barrel [B] and started down once more.
I clung on tightly [C#m] to the rope, me body wracked with pain,
[E] and halfway down I met the bloody barrel once again. _ _ _
The force of this collision halfway down the office block
caused multiple abrasions [B] and a nasty case of shock.
But [C#m] I clung on tightly to the rope as I fell towards the [E] ground,
and I landed on the broken bricks the barrel had scattered round. _
_ Well, as I lay there on the floor I thought I'd passed the risk,
but the barrel hit the pulley [B] wheel and then the four fingers.
A shower of bricks [C#m] rained down on me, I didn't have a [E] hope.
As I lay there bleeding on the ground I let go of the bloody rope. _ _ _ _ _ _
The barrel now being heavier, it started down once more.
It landed right across me as I lay there on the [C#m] floor.
It broke three ribs in my left arm and I can only say,
I hope you'll understand why [E] I am not like you.
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ [A#] _ _ [A#m] _
_ Well, not industrial ballads anyway.
We do protest songs of another type and
we'll keep going with those until the need [E] departs.
It is an industrial ballad with a difference.
We reckon the words are terrific and the
tune is a great tune as well [A#m] and it comes from the bad old days when in
order to get a day off work you really have to have a first-class excuse.
There was no use just walking in and saying the forage fell on my feet and I [E] couldn't make it.
There's a young lad who's had an accident on a building site and [D#] he can't even get to the work today
and he's writing in to his boss to explain his accident.
It's rather sad.
It's called the [E] Bricklayer Song.
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _
[E] Yes sir, I write this note to you to tell you of [E] my plight.
For at the time [B] of writing it I'm not a pretty sight.
My body is all black and blue, my [C#m] guts are deadly.
[E] And I write this note to say why I am not at work today.
_ _ While working on the fourteen floors and bricks I had to grit,
but putting them down from such a height was not a good idea.
The foreman wasn't very [C#m] pleased, he is an awkward sod,
[E] and he said I had to cart them down the ladder in me hod.
Well, clearing all these bricks by hand it was so very slow,
so I hoisted up a barrel [B] and secured the rope below.
But in me [C#m] haste to do the job I was too blind to see
that a barrel full of building brick was [E] heavier than me.
_ And so when I untied the rope the barrel fell like lead,
and clinging tightly [B] to the rope I started up [A] instead.
I shot up like a rocket [C#m] and to my dismay I [E] bounced,
but halfway up I met the bloody barrel in me head. _ _ _ _ _
The barrel broke me shoulder as to the ground it stead,
and when I reached the top I banged [B] the pulley with me head.
[C#m] But I clung on tightly, numb with shock from this almighty blow,
[E] while the barrels pulled out half a dozen fourteen floors below.
_ Well, when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor,
I then outweighed the barrel [B] and started down once more.
I clung on tightly [C#m] to the rope, me body wracked with pain,
[E] and halfway down I met the bloody barrel once again. _ _ _
The force of this collision halfway down the office block
caused multiple abrasions [B] and a nasty case of shock.
But [C#m] I clung on tightly to the rope as I fell towards the [E] ground,
and I landed on the broken bricks the barrel had scattered round. _
_ Well, as I lay there on the floor I thought I'd passed the risk,
but the barrel hit the pulley [B] wheel and then the four fingers.
A shower of bricks [C#m] rained down on me, I didn't have a [E] hope.
As I lay there bleeding on the ground I let go of the bloody rope. _ _ _ _ _ _
The barrel now being heavier, it started down once more.
It landed right across me as I lay there on the [C#m] floor.
It broke three ribs in my left arm and I can only say,
I hope you'll understand why [E] I am not like you.
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ [A#] _ _ [A#m] _