Chords for Tom T. Hall, Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] I was there [N] because I was being paid to be there. _ _
Why else would you go to a political convention?
_ This was in 1972 in Miami, _ [C#m] and they had the Democratic National [F] Convention there.
_ _ _ _ They hired _ me, Ray Price, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette
_ _ to go down there and go over in Flamingo Park and pick
_ [F] to keep the hippies from tearing [C#] up the convention
the way they had four years earlier in Chicago.
_ And it worked.
_ [E] All those kids got a joint and a can of beer and came over and listened to us [A#] speak.
_ [C#] And the convention, one of the most quietest conventions they'd ever had.
They nominated McGovern at three o'clock in the morning.
_ This night [G#] didn't get me.
_ [A] _ _
_ [D] _ So I was [B] there, and _ _ after the show I went back to the hotel.
And there was nobody at the hotel because everybody was over at that convention. _ _ _
_ [F#] And I went _ _ _ in this, _ _ the lobby of the hotel, and there was a little bar there,
and there's nobody in there.
There's an [G] old black gentleman [C#m] and a bartender.
And I'll never forget, [G#] the bartender was standing there.
And I'd seen this a million times, and I wish I'd asked him,
what the hell's going on here?
Because he was standing, watching a TV show, Iron Sides,
and he was polishing the glass. _ _ _ _
Polishing the glass. _ _ _ _ _
And I'm worried about that a lot.
I just wonder why [A#] they're polishing the wall, you know?
_ _ [F#] _ _ _ So [A] I'm sorry I ordered me a [C#] drink, and this is the rest [F#] of it. _ _
Well, I got [G#] on an airplane the next morning on the way to Nashville,
and I'm looking through my pockets for something,
and I found this note.
It said, Watermelon Wine.
And so I looked for something to write on, didn't have anything.
So I took a sick bag out of [C#] the airplane and wrote this song.
I hope that sick bag is in the country music hall.
_ No, that sick bag is still on that plane.
_ [A] No, I put it in [C#m] my pocket, and I took it down to sing it for Jerry Kennedy,
and [A#] he said, I got off the plane and went to a session.
And Kennedy said, can you read that?
And I said, yeah, I wrote it.
And he said, well, let's put it down.
_ [F#] _ And this is one of my very fortunate encounters out there. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C#] _ _
How old do [F#] you think I am, he said.
_ [B] _ I said, well, I [G#] didn't know.
_ [E] _ [C#] _ He said, you know, I turned 65 about [B] _ [C#] 11 months [F#] ago. _
I was sitting in Miami, [B] pouring [F#] blend of [G#] mosquito. _
[B] When this old [F#] grapevine came, _ _
[C#] _ I was cleaning up the [F#] wood. _ _ _
_ _ Well, there wasn't anyone [F#m] around [F#] except this old [D#] man.
_ _ [C#] The guy who ran the bar was [B] watching the iron [C#] side.
[F#] _ _ _
_ Not invited.
He sat down and he _ [G#m] opened his mind. _
[B] All old [F#] dogs and children _ [C#] _
and [F#] watermelon. _ _ _ _ _
[G#m] _ [F#] Never had a drink of [B] watermelon _ [G#] wine, he asked. _
[C#] _ Told me all [G#m] about it, [B] _
[C#] though I didn't [F#] answer back.
_ _ He said, ain't but three things in this world worth the _ [G#m] solitude.
_ _ _ That's all _
[B] [F#] dogs and children _ _ [C#] and [F#] watermelon wine.
_ _ _ _ He said, you know, women think about themselves.
_ [B] _
Well, when [G#] mental pain arrives.
_ [C#] And friends are hard to find when [B] they discover [C#] _
[F#] that you're dying.
_ _ [F#m] He said, son, I tried it all when I was young.
[B] _ And in [D#m] my natural [G#] crime.
[B] Now it's [F#] all dogs and children _ [C#] _ and watermelon.
[F#] _ _ _
_ _ He said, you know, dogs, they care about you.
_ [B] _ _ Even when you make mistakes.
[G#] _ _ [C#] _ God bless little children [B] while they're [C#] still too young.
[F#] _ _ [C#]
And when he moved on, _ [F#] found my pen [B] and I copied [F#] down.
About _ [G#m] _ _ [B] _
old [F#] dogs and [C#] children _ [A#] and [F#] watermelon. _ _ _ _ _
Well, I had to catch a plane up [B] to [F#] Atlanta that next [G#m] day.
_ [C#] _
As I left for my room, my son. _
Picking up [F#] my chain.
_ And that night I dream in peaceful sleep.
[B] But she.
_ _ [G#m] _ _ I'll go down.
[F#] _ _ _ _ [C#] _ _ And watermelon.
[F#] _ _ _ _ _ _