Chords for Bruce Springsteen 1987 Harry Chapin Tribute: Remember When the Music

_ _ _ _ Ladies and gentlemen, _ _ Bruce Springsteen. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [Bb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [N] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ I met [Gbm] Harry in [Eb] 1978.
I was in the studio.
He [Cm] was [F] making a record in another studio.
[C] He [G] came smiling up to me and [B] started talking to me.
[C] And 20 minutes went by.
[Gm] 30 minutes went by.
Talked about [Fm] everything, politics, [Db] music.
I said, yeah, he's a nice guy.
[Cm] Next night I came in.
Harry [Em] comes bounding up, smiling.
[A] [G] Starts talking to me.
[Eb] 30 minutes [Am] goes by.
[G] _
So finally, [C] I used to try to hide from him.
_ [Gb]
[Fm] Come in and I asked the secretary if Harry [C] was in the lobby.
_ [G] _ [A] And I'd sneak [G] in the studio.
So [F] we went out to [D] California to mix.
[Fm] I'm standing on this balcony, [Gm] third [G] floor of this motel.
And I hear, hey, [N] hey.
I look down and [C] there's Harry.
_ [Eb] And he starts talking to me.
[F] _
Talks to me for [C] about 40 minutes.
Standing down there, looking up.
[Fm] He was trying to get me to [Gm] do something.
[F] And [C] he said one thing that I always [A] remembered.
He said, gee, I play one night for me and one night for [D] the other guy.
And [Eb] later on when I was [G] trying to put my music to some _ [Cm] pragmatic use,
I remembered [Gm] what he said.
[Eb] Not being bent to [C] extremism, I wasn't as generous as he was.
[D] _
But he's [Bb] probably laughing [G] right now.
_ Here's for you.
_ _ _ Remember when music came [C] from wooden boxes strung with [G] silver wire? _
And as we sang, the [D] words [Cm] [G] would set our hearts on fire.
To believe in things, _ so we'd [D] sing.
[G] _
Remember when the music [Cm] brought us [C] all together to [G] stand inside the ring?
_ And as we joined [C] hands, we'd meet in the refrain.
[G] Dreams to live _ and hope to give.
_ Remember when the music [C] was the best of what we dreamed [Gm] of for our children's time? _
And as we worked, we sang, [C] because we knew time was just a line.
[G] A gift to save, a gift the future gave. _
Remember when the music was [C] a rock that we could cling [Gm] to so we'd not despair?
_ And as we sang, we knew [C] we'd hear an echo [G] in the air.
And if we weren't smiling, _ we'd smile _ _ again.
_ _ [C]
And all the times I listened, [G] and all the times I heard,
[C] and all the melodies I'm listening, [Gm] and all the magic words,
all the beautiful voices, and the choices we had then,
[Cm] I [D] hope to find we got [Gm] those kinds of choices once [D] again. _
_ _ [G] _ I remember when Sandy sent me [C] this tape, I listened to it and I said,
gee, [G] this is a little on the corny side. _
[Dm] And I sat down and I tried to think [Cm] what the song was about.
[G] _ And I guess there was a time when people felt that music provided you with a greater,
[C] _ oh, a greater sense of [Gm] unity, a greater sense of shared vision and purpose than it does today.
_ _ [G] _ In my [C] generation, we were the generation that was gonna [G] change the world.
_ Somehow we were gonna make it a little less lonely, a little less hungry, [Eb] a little more [C] just place. _
_ _ [G] But it seems that when _ _ _ that promise slipped through our hands, we didn't replace it with nothing but [C]
lost faith.
[G] And now we live in times [Eb] of pretty shatter.
I got my music, you got yours, the guy up the street, [G] he's got his.
_ _ [C] _
_ _ And you could [G] kind of sit back and say, not cynically, but truthfully,
well, maybe, maybe all men are not brothers.
_ _ And maybe [Cm] we won't ever know who or what we really are to each other.
[C] _ _ [Gm] But I think Harry instinctively knew [Dm] that it was gonna take a lot more [Gm] than just love to survive.
That it was gonna take a strong sense of [C] purpose, a duty, _ and a good clear eye on the [G] dirty ways of the world. _ _ _
So in keeping _ his promise to himself, [C]
he reminds us of our promise to ourselves.
[G] And that tonight, _ _ alongside Harry, it's that promise that his spirit would [C] have us remember [Cm] and [G] honor and recommit to.
_ So, do something, [C] and may his song be sung.
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Cm] Was a glow on the [C] horizon [G] of a newborn day.
_ And as we sang, the sun come [C] up and chased the dark away.
[G] And life was good, for we knew we could.
_ Remember when the music [C] brought the night across the valley as [G] the day went down. _
And as we hummed the melody, [C] we'd be safe inside the sound.
And so [Gm] we'd sleep to awake with [Dm] dreams [C] and [G] promises to keep. _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _ _