Chords for Verlon Thompson - campfire-side performance of he and Guy Clark's song "The Guitar"

_ _ _ _ I was down there in Guy's workshop where he used to build his guitars.
I was down there one day watching him work.
I said, Guy, I've been looking for this certain kind of guitar I want to buy.
They're hard to find and I really want to get a hold of one.
I said, it's called a bourgeois [N] and it's got mahogany back and sides. _
It's a _ special model.
An old guy's over there whittling on a piece of wood and he goes,
_ go look under my bed, I think I've got one in there.
_ _ I said, no, surely you don't have a bourgeois mahogany back and sides under your bed.
That's crazy.
It's like a [Bm] $5,000 guitar.
He said, I think I do.
Go look. _ _ _
So I went in [D#m] his bedroom, I got on my knees and I reached under there.
There was a case, I pulled it out and I opened it up.
It [D#] was a bourgeois _ mahogany back and sides.
_ I grabbed it out of the [G] case, the E-line, I went back in there to Guy and said,
what is [G#] going on?
[E] How long have you had [C#] this and how come I didn't know about it? _
And Guy says, I didn't know you was [D#] interested. _
_ _ [D] _ I said, this is exactly what I want.
I said, [Gm] _ can I [B] buy this from you?
Can we work out a deal?
[D] I'll [C] work for you another 20, 30 years, pay this thing [D#] off.
[Gm] He said, _ [Bm] why don't you just take it?
I [G] said, no, I can't just take it.
[B] He said, oh, come on, man.
I want you to have it.
Just take it.
_ [N] _ I said, well, _ okay, I will.
But here's the deal.
[Bm] _ _
I said, I'll take it.
[D] It'll be in my custody, but it'll always be your [G#] guitar.
How's that?
Guy said, _ whatever.
[C] _ _ _ _ _ And this is it.
[Bm] _ _ _ _ _ _
I _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ was passing by a pawn [G] shop over in the older part of town.
[A] Something caught my eye and [F#] I stopped and turned around.
[Bm] I went inside and there I [G] spied in the middle of it all,
this beat up old guitar just [F#] hanging on the wall.
[B] What do you [Bm] want for that piece of [G] junk?
I asked the old man.
[A] He just smiled and he took it [F#] down and he put it in my hand.
And he said, you tell me what it's [G] worth, son.
You're the one that wants it.
[A] He said, tune it up and play a song [F#] and let's just see what haunts it.
[Bm] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ [A] _ [G] _ _ [F#] _ _ [F#] So I hit a couple of chords in my [G] old country way of strumming.
And [E] then my fingers turned to lightning.
[A#] Man, I never saw it coming.
[Bm] It was like I always knew it, but I don't [G] know where I learned it.
[A] It was a dream come true.
So I [F#] just reared back and burned [Bm] it. _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ _
_ [G#] _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ [F#] _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [A#] _ _
_ [Bm] I lost all track of [D] time.
There was nothing I couldn't pick.
[A] Up and down the neck.
Man, I [F#] never missed a lick.
[F#] It was like that guitar played [G] itself and there was nothing I could do.
[A] It was getting kind of hard to tell [F#] who was playing who.
[A] When I [Bm] finally finished, [D] I was almost out of breath.
[A] My hands were shaking and my old [A#] shirt was soaking wet.
And [Bm] that old man jumped up in a grin and [D] he said, where the hell have you been?
[A] He said, I've been waiting all these years for [F#] you to stumble in.
[Bm] And then he grabbed an old beat up case [G] and said, go on, son, pack it up.
[A] He said, you don't owe me nothing.
[A#] But when he said good luck,
_ [C#m] there was something [Bm] spooky in his voice and [D] a strange look on his face.
_ And when [A] I closed the lid, I saw [F#] my name was on that [G#] case.
_ [G] _ _ _ [C#] _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C#] _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Bm] _ _