What Made America Famous Chords by Harry Chapin
Tempo:
78.8 bpm
Chords used:
G
C
D
Am
Em
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[G] [C] [G] [C] [G]
[C] [G] [G]
It was the town that made [C] America famous.
[G] [A] The church is full [D] and the kids all [G] gone to [C] hell.
[G] Six traffic lights and seven [C] cops and all the streets kept clean.
[G] [A] The [D] supermarket and the drugstore [Am] and the bars all [G] doing well.
Now they were the folks that made [C] America famous.
[Bm] [Am] Our local fire [D] department stocked [G] with short-haired volunteers.
And then Saturday night while America [C] boozes, the fire department showed [G] dirty movies.
[Am] The lawyer and the grocer [G] seeing their [F] dreams come to life on the [Em] movie [D] screen.
While the plumber hopes that he won't [C] be seen as he tries to hide his fears.
And he wipes away [G] his tears.
[Gm] But [G] something's burning somewhere.
Does [Eb] anybody care?
[G]
We were the kids that made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] The kind of [D] kids that long since [G] drove our parents to despair.
We were lazy, long haired, dropping [C] out, lost, confused [G] and [Am] cupping out.
Convinced [D] our futures were in doubt [C] and trying [Am] not [G] to care.
[C] [G] We lived in the house that made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] It was a run down [D] slum, the shame of [G] all our decent folks in town.
Where hippies and some welfare [C] cases, crowded families of [G] cold black [Am] faces.
Scrapped in shacks of [G] crackled [F] horse, the best that we all [Em] could [D] afford.
But still too fine for the rich landlord to [C] ever tear it down.
And [G] we could hear the sound of something burning somewhere.
Is [Eb] anybody there?
[G]
We all lived the life that [B] made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] Our colors would [D] make a point to [G] shadow us around our town.
And we loved children, put a [C] swastika on the great red firehouse [G] door.
[Am] America, [D] the beautiful, [C] it [Am] makes a body [Em] proud.
Then [E] came the night [D] that made [C] America famous.
[E]
[A] Was it carelessness, [D] or someone's sick [G] idea of a joke?
In the [D] tinderbox trap [G] that we hippies lived [C] in, someone struck a [G] spark.
[Am] At first I thought that I [G] was [F] dreaming.
Then I saw the first [Em] flames [D] gleaming.
And I heard the sound of children [C] screaming coming [G] through the smoke.
And something's burning somewhere.
Is anybody [Eb] there?
[G]
It was the fire that made [C] America famous.
[Bm] [Am] The sirens [D] wailed and the firemen [G] stumbled, sleep-bared from their homes.
And when the plumber yelled, come on let's [C] go.
They saw what was burning and [G] said, take it [Am] slow.
Let them sweat a [D] little, they'll never know.
[C] And besides, we just cleaned the crawl, said the [Em] plumber, then I'm going along.
Well he rode on up in the fire truck [A] and raised [Am] the ladder to the [G] ledge.
Well me and [B] my girl and a couple of [C] kids were clinging like [Em] that to the [Bb] edge.
[Em] When I got to salvation, [Am] I collapsed on the street.
[G] And I never [B] thought that a fat [C] man's face would ever look [G] so sweet.
I shook his hand in the scene that made [C] America famous.
[Em] And [Am] I smiled from the [D] heart that made [G] America great.
We spent the rest of that night in the home of this man [C] that we'd never known [G] before.
[Am] It's funny [D] when you get that [C] close, it's [Am] kind of hard [G] to hate.
I went to sleep with the hope that [Bm] made [C] America famous.
[Bm] [Am] I had the kind of a [D] dream that maybe there's [G] still time at Peachin' School.
Of the America that made America [C] famous.
[G] [Am] And of the people who just might [G] [F] understand that together, yes [Em] we can,
[D] create a country better than [Am] the one we have made [G] of this [F] land.
We have the choice to make [Em] each man [D] who dares the dream reach out his hand.
And the kids [C] of Moffett are just a crazy damn dreamer [G] of a dream.
Yes [D] a crazy dream.
[Bb] And something's burning [A] somewhere.
[D] Does anybody [Eb] care?
[C] Is anybody there?
[G]
[C] [G] [G]
It was the town that made [C] America famous.
[G] [A] The church is full [D] and the kids all [G] gone to [C] hell.
[G] Six traffic lights and seven [C] cops and all the streets kept clean.
[G] [A] The [D] supermarket and the drugstore [Am] and the bars all [G] doing well.
Now they were the folks that made [C] America famous.
[Bm] [Am] Our local fire [D] department stocked [G] with short-haired volunteers.
And then Saturday night while America [C] boozes, the fire department showed [G] dirty movies.
[Am] The lawyer and the grocer [G] seeing their [F] dreams come to life on the [Em] movie [D] screen.
While the plumber hopes that he won't [C] be seen as he tries to hide his fears.
And he wipes away [G] his tears.
[Gm] But [G] something's burning somewhere.
Does [Eb] anybody care?
[G]
We were the kids that made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] The kind of [D] kids that long since [G] drove our parents to despair.
We were lazy, long haired, dropping [C] out, lost, confused [G] and [Am] cupping out.
Convinced [D] our futures were in doubt [C] and trying [Am] not [G] to care.
[C] [G] We lived in the house that made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] It was a run down [D] slum, the shame of [G] all our decent folks in town.
Where hippies and some welfare [C] cases, crowded families of [G] cold black [Am] faces.
Scrapped in shacks of [G] crackled [F] horse, the best that we all [Em] could [D] afford.
But still too fine for the rich landlord to [C] ever tear it down.
And [G] we could hear the sound of something burning somewhere.
Is [Eb] anybody there?
[G]
We all lived the life that [B] made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] Our colors would [D] make a point to [G] shadow us around our town.
And we loved children, put a [C] swastika on the great red firehouse [G] door.
[Am] America, [D] the beautiful, [C] it [Am] makes a body [Em] proud.
Then [E] came the night [D] that made [C] America famous.
[E]
[A] Was it carelessness, [D] or someone's sick [G] idea of a joke?
In the [D] tinderbox trap [G] that we hippies lived [C] in, someone struck a [G] spark.
[Am] At first I thought that I [G] was [F] dreaming.
Then I saw the first [Em] flames [D] gleaming.
And I heard the sound of children [C] screaming coming [G] through the smoke.
And something's burning somewhere.
Is anybody [Eb] there?
[G]
It was the fire that made [C] America famous.
[Bm] [Am] The sirens [D] wailed and the firemen [G] stumbled, sleep-bared from their homes.
And when the plumber yelled, come on let's [C] go.
They saw what was burning and [G] said, take it [Am] slow.
Let them sweat a [D] little, they'll never know.
[C] And besides, we just cleaned the crawl, said the [Em] plumber, then I'm going along.
Well he rode on up in the fire truck [A] and raised [Am] the ladder to the [G] ledge.
Well me and [B] my girl and a couple of [C] kids were clinging like [Em] that to the [Bb] edge.
[Em] When I got to salvation, [Am] I collapsed on the street.
[G] And I never [B] thought that a fat [C] man's face would ever look [G] so sweet.
I shook his hand in the scene that made [C] America famous.
[Em] And [Am] I smiled from the [D] heart that made [G] America great.
We spent the rest of that night in the home of this man [C] that we'd never known [G] before.
[Am] It's funny [D] when you get that [C] close, it's [Am] kind of hard [G] to hate.
I went to sleep with the hope that [Bm] made [C] America famous.
[Bm] [Am] I had the kind of a [D] dream that maybe there's [G] still time at Peachin' School.
Of the America that made America [C] famous.
[G] [Am] And of the people who just might [G] [F] understand that together, yes [Em] we can,
[D] create a country better than [Am] the one we have made [G] of this [F] land.
We have the choice to make [Em] each man [D] who dares the dream reach out his hand.
And the kids [C] of Moffett are just a crazy damn dreamer [G] of a dream.
Yes [D] a crazy dream.
[Bb] And something's burning [A] somewhere.
[D] Does anybody [Eb] care?
[C] Is anybody there?
[G]
Key:
G
C
D
Am
Em
G
C
D
_ [G] _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ [G] _
_ _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ It was the town that made [C] America famous.
_ [G] [A] The church is full [D] and the kids all [G] gone to [C] hell.
[G] _ Six traffic lights and seven [C] cops and all the streets kept clean.
[G] [A] The [D] supermarket and the drugstore [Am] and the bars all [G] doing well.
_ Now they were the folks that made [C] America famous.
_ [Bm] [Am] Our local fire [D] department stocked [G] with short-haired volunteers.
And then Saturday night while America [C] boozes, the fire department showed [G] dirty movies.
[Am] The lawyer and the grocer [G] seeing their [F] dreams come to life on the [Em] movie [D] screen.
While the plumber hopes that he won't [C] be seen as he tries to hide his fears.
And he wipes away [G] his tears.
_ [Gm] But [G] something's burning somewhere.
Does [Eb] anybody care?
_ _ [G] _
_ _ _ We were the kids that made [C] America famous.
_ [G] [Am] The kind of [D] kids that long since [G] drove our parents to despair.
We were lazy, long haired, dropping [C] out, lost, confused [G] and [Am] cupping out.
Convinced [D] our futures were in doubt [C] and trying [Am] not [G] to care.
[C] _ [G] _ We lived in the house that made [C] America famous.
_ [G] [Am] It was a run down [D] slum, the shame of [G] all our decent folks in town.
Where hippies and some welfare [C] cases, crowded families of [G] cold black [Am] faces.
Scrapped in shacks of [G] crackled [F] horse, the best that we all [Em] could [D] afford.
But still too fine for the rich landlord to [C] ever tear it down.
And [G] we could hear the sound of something burning somewhere.
Is [Eb] anybody there?
_ _ _ [G] _ _
_ We all lived the life that [B] made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] Our colors would [D] make a point to [G] shadow us around our town.
And we loved children, put a [C] swastika on the great red firehouse [G] door.
[Am] America, [D] the beautiful, [C] it [Am] makes a body [Em] proud.
Then _ _ _ _ [E] came the night [D] that made [C] America famous.
[E] _
_ [A] Was it carelessness, [D] or someone's sick [G] idea of a joke?
In the [D] tinderbox trap [G] that we hippies lived [C] in, someone struck a [G] spark.
[Am] At first I thought that I [G] was [F] dreaming.
Then I saw the first [Em] flames [D] gleaming.
And I heard the sound of children [C] screaming coming [G] through the smoke.
_ And something's burning somewhere.
Is anybody [Eb] there?
_ _ [G] _ _
_ _ It was the fire that made [C] America famous.
_ [Bm] [Am] The sirens [D] wailed and the firemen [G] stumbled, sleep-bared from their homes.
And when the plumber yelled, come on let's [C] go.
They saw what was burning and [G] said, take it [Am] slow.
Let them sweat a [D] little, they'll never know.
[C] And besides, we just cleaned the crawl, said the [Em] plumber, then I'm going along. _
_ _ _ _ Well he rode on up in the fire truck [A] and raised [Am] the ladder to the [G] ledge.
Well me and [B] my girl and a couple of [C] kids were clinging like [Em] that to the [Bb] edge.
[Em] When I got to salvation, [Am] I collapsed on the street.
[G] And I never [B] thought that a fat [C] man's face would ever look [G] so sweet. _ _
_ _ _ _ I shook his hand in the scene that made [C] America famous.
_ [Em] And [Am] I smiled from the [D] heart that made [G] America great. _ _
We spent the rest of that night in the home of this man [C] that we'd never known [G] before.
[Am] It's funny [D] when you get that [C] close, it's [Am] kind of hard [G] to hate. _ _ _ _ _
_ I went to sleep with the hope that [Bm] made [C] America famous.
_ _ [Bm] [Am] I had the kind of a [D] dream that maybe there's [G] still time at Peachin' School.
Of the America that made America [C] famous.
_ [G] [Am] And of the people who just might [G] [F] understand that together, yes [Em] we can,
[D] create a country better than [Am] the one we have made [G] of this [F] land.
We have the choice to make [Em] each man [D] who dares the dream reach out his hand.
And the kids [C] of Moffett are just a crazy damn dreamer [G] of a dream.
Yes [D] a crazy dream.
_ _ [Bb] And something's burning [A] somewhere.
_ [D] _ Does anybody [Eb] care? _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ Is anybody there?
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ It was the town that made [C] America famous.
_ [G] [A] The church is full [D] and the kids all [G] gone to [C] hell.
[G] _ Six traffic lights and seven [C] cops and all the streets kept clean.
[G] [A] The [D] supermarket and the drugstore [Am] and the bars all [G] doing well.
_ Now they were the folks that made [C] America famous.
_ [Bm] [Am] Our local fire [D] department stocked [G] with short-haired volunteers.
And then Saturday night while America [C] boozes, the fire department showed [G] dirty movies.
[Am] The lawyer and the grocer [G] seeing their [F] dreams come to life on the [Em] movie [D] screen.
While the plumber hopes that he won't [C] be seen as he tries to hide his fears.
And he wipes away [G] his tears.
_ [Gm] But [G] something's burning somewhere.
Does [Eb] anybody care?
_ _ [G] _
_ _ _ We were the kids that made [C] America famous.
_ [G] [Am] The kind of [D] kids that long since [G] drove our parents to despair.
We were lazy, long haired, dropping [C] out, lost, confused [G] and [Am] cupping out.
Convinced [D] our futures were in doubt [C] and trying [Am] not [G] to care.
[C] _ [G] _ We lived in the house that made [C] America famous.
_ [G] [Am] It was a run down [D] slum, the shame of [G] all our decent folks in town.
Where hippies and some welfare [C] cases, crowded families of [G] cold black [Am] faces.
Scrapped in shacks of [G] crackled [F] horse, the best that we all [Em] could [D] afford.
But still too fine for the rich landlord to [C] ever tear it down.
And [G] we could hear the sound of something burning somewhere.
Is [Eb] anybody there?
_ _ _ [G] _ _
_ We all lived the life that [B] made [C] America famous.
[G] [Am] Our colors would [D] make a point to [G] shadow us around our town.
And we loved children, put a [C] swastika on the great red firehouse [G] door.
[Am] America, [D] the beautiful, [C] it [Am] makes a body [Em] proud.
Then _ _ _ _ [E] came the night [D] that made [C] America famous.
[E] _
_ [A] Was it carelessness, [D] or someone's sick [G] idea of a joke?
In the [D] tinderbox trap [G] that we hippies lived [C] in, someone struck a [G] spark.
[Am] At first I thought that I [G] was [F] dreaming.
Then I saw the first [Em] flames [D] gleaming.
And I heard the sound of children [C] screaming coming [G] through the smoke.
_ And something's burning somewhere.
Is anybody [Eb] there?
_ _ [G] _ _
_ _ It was the fire that made [C] America famous.
_ [Bm] [Am] The sirens [D] wailed and the firemen [G] stumbled, sleep-bared from their homes.
And when the plumber yelled, come on let's [C] go.
They saw what was burning and [G] said, take it [Am] slow.
Let them sweat a [D] little, they'll never know.
[C] And besides, we just cleaned the crawl, said the [Em] plumber, then I'm going along. _
_ _ _ _ Well he rode on up in the fire truck [A] and raised [Am] the ladder to the [G] ledge.
Well me and [B] my girl and a couple of [C] kids were clinging like [Em] that to the [Bb] edge.
[Em] When I got to salvation, [Am] I collapsed on the street.
[G] And I never [B] thought that a fat [C] man's face would ever look [G] so sweet. _ _
_ _ _ _ I shook his hand in the scene that made [C] America famous.
_ [Em] And [Am] I smiled from the [D] heart that made [G] America great. _ _
We spent the rest of that night in the home of this man [C] that we'd never known [G] before.
[Am] It's funny [D] when you get that [C] close, it's [Am] kind of hard [G] to hate. _ _ _ _ _
_ I went to sleep with the hope that [Bm] made [C] America famous.
_ _ [Bm] [Am] I had the kind of a [D] dream that maybe there's [G] still time at Peachin' School.
Of the America that made America [C] famous.
_ [G] [Am] And of the people who just might [G] [F] understand that together, yes [Em] we can,
[D] create a country better than [Am] the one we have made [G] of this [F] land.
We have the choice to make [Em] each man [D] who dares the dream reach out his hand.
And the kids [C] of Moffett are just a crazy damn dreamer [G] of a dream.
Yes [D] a crazy dream.
_ _ [Bb] And something's burning [A] somewhere.
_ [D] _ Does anybody [Eb] care? _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ Is anybody there?
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Facts about this song