To Beat The Devil Chords by Kris Kristofferson

[G] A couple of years back I come across a great and wasted friend of mine in the hallway of.
a recording studio.
.
And while he was reciting [Ab] some poetry [G] to me that he'd written, I saw that he was about.
a step away from dying, and I couldn't help but wonder why.
.
The lines of this song occurred to me.
I'm happy to say he's no longer wasted [F] and he's got him a good woman.
And I'd like to dedicate this to John and June who helped show me how to beat the devil.
[G] .
.
It was wintertime in Nashville, [C] down on Music City [G] Road.
And I was looking for a place [D] to get myself out of the cold.
[C] To [D] warm the frozen [G] feeling that was eating at [Em] my soul.
[C] Keep the chilly [D] wind off my guitar.
[G] My thirsty wanted whiskey.
[C].
My [G] hunger needed beans.
But it had been a month of [D] payday since I'd heard that eagle scream.
[C] [D] So with a stomach full of [G] empty and a pocket [Em] full of dreams, [C] [D] I left my pride and stepped.
inside a [G] bar.
[Em] Actually, I guess you'd call [C] it a tavern.
Cigarette [Am] smoked up the ceiling and sawdust on the floor.
[D] .
[G] Friendly shadows.
.
I saw that there was just one [C] old man [G] sitting at the bar.
And in the mirror I could see him [D] checking me and my guitar.
[C] And he [D] turned and said, come up here, [G] boy, and show us what you are.
[Em] [C] I said, I'm dry.
[D] And he bought me a beer.
[G] He nodded at my guitar and [C] said, it's a tough [G] life, ain't it?.
I just looked at him.
He [D] said, you ain't making no money, are you?.
[C] I said, you've been [D] reading my mail.
[G].
He just smiled [E] and said, let me see that [C] guitar.
[D] I got something y'all [G] to hear.
Then he laid it on me.
If you waste your time talking to [C] the people who don't listen to [G] the things that you are saying,.
who [D] do you think's gonna hear?.
[G] And if you should die explaining how [C] the things that they complain about [G] are things that could.
be changing, [D] who do you think's gonna [G] care?
.
There [D] were other lonely singers in [C] a world turned deaf [G] and blind who [C] were crucified [G] for what they tried [D] to show.
.
And [G] their voices have been scattered by [C] the swirling winds [G] of time because the truth remains [D] that no one wants [G] to know.
.
Well, the old man was a stranger, but [C] I'd heard his [G] song before, back when failure had me [D] locked out on the wrong side of the door.
[C] [D] When no one stood behind me [G] but my shadow [Em] on the floor.
[C] And lonesome was more than a [D] state of mind.
[G] You see, the devil haunts a hungry [C] man.
[G] If you don't want to join him, you [D] gotta beat him.
[C] I ain't saying [D] I beat the [G] devil, [Em] but I drank his beer for nothing.
[C] [D] .
[G] Then I stole his song.
.
And you still can hear me singing to the [C] people who don't listen [G] to the things that I am saying and praying [D] someone's gonna hear.
[G] And I guess I'll die explaining [C] how the things that they complain [G] about are things that could be changing, [D] hoping someone's [G] gonna care.
I [D] was born a lonely singer and [C] I'm bound to die [G] the same.
But [C] I've gotta feed [G] the hunger in [D] my soul.
And [G] if I never have a nickel, I [C] will never die [G] of shame.
Cause I don't believe [D] that no one wants [G] to know.
.
.