Chords for John Prine: The Road to 'The Tree of Forgiveness’
Tempo:
80.975 bpm
Chords used:
D
G
A
F#m
F#
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
The first time I got on stage, people looked at me.
They didn't applaud, they just looked.
And I thought, oh shit, these songs are worse than I thought.
They're not even songs.
And then slowly they started applauding.
And when I got done, the owner of the place offered me a job.
I said, doing what?
And he said, singing.
[D] I said, you're kidding me.
When I was a child, [G] my [D] family would travel
Down to western Kentucky, [A] where my [D] parents were born.
There's a backwards old town, [G] that's all I'll [D] ever remember.
So many times, [A] that I'll never [D] really want.
Daddy, won't you [G] take me back to [D] Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river, [A] where the pure [D] dies away.
I'm sorry my [G] son, for making you a [D]
nasty
Mr.
Peabody's poor train, [A] is a [D]-holdin' you away.
I was making a thousand dollars under the table,
singing in a folk club in Chicago,
next to a fireplace to [G] a bunch of people that [A] had turtle necks [D] on,
instead of walking through the snow for two weeks, delivering mail.
So I quit the post office, slept late,
and I'd sing four [A] nights a week,
[D] and put a thousand bucks in my pocket.
I was living on High Street.
Sometimes we travel [G] right down [D] the green river
To the abandoned old prison down by the hill.
[G#] I was very innocent when I wrote those first songs.
I didn't sit around fantasizing about being a recording [N] artist,
getting played on the radio and this and that.
I was just happy to be there,
let alone be making my living at singing.
It'd be a really good sign if they don't have my records,
that means nobody sold them.
Lloyd Price, Les Paul, Mary Ford.
This is when album art was album art.
This is all jazz.
I'm thinking maybe they would have put them in country.
I should be right after Charlie Pride.
There's a lot of Charlie Pride here.
Some of it's unopened too.
I'm safe.
Me and Elvis, Major War Ambassador.
[G]
That, um, [Em] first [G] of all, this is his.
Hammering on that G thing, just like Christopherson's got that.
I got the first record all the way up through German [F] Afternoons
all in like a week or two, and digested it [N] all.
And I just remember thinking that I wanted to be good like that.
There's no xylophone phase, there's no
And then he kind of did nursery rhymes for a minute.
It's just always like, look out.
Sit down, Randy Newman.
Randy Newman's pretty great too.
There's very few craftsmen like John, though,
who can so perfectly articulate a character in a scene.
Over the course of one song, he'll make you laugh and make you cry
and then make you hopeful and doubtful.
He's the closest thing I could imagine to ever being around
like Mark Twain or something.
Please don't bury me in that cold, cold ground.
Rather have you cut me up and pass me all around.
I mean, that's, that makes you laugh.
We went up there to save our marriage
and perhaps catch a few fish.
Crying ice cubes, hoping I'd croak.
Till the sun come through the window and the ice all broke.
Stood up and laughed, thought it was a joke.
Yeah, it's the way the world goes round.
Let me put it this way.
So if that, what do they call it, the bro thing,
where it's like, here comes a kick-ass list of country shit.
You know, right?
Trucks and vocals and that.
If that got replaced by a bunch of young people
that were trying to be like [G#m] John Prine,
as an old man who sits around watching it,
I would [D] be like, that would be my, you know.
I mean, it's probably [F#m] a very good time for me to put a record out.
[D] Young people are naming me as an influence
and my audience [F#m] has tripled in the last five years.
[D] Were you nervous about starting a new album?
Not after [F#m] having cancer twice.
I'm not scared of nothing.
[D] Summer's end, around the [F#] bend, just fly.
[F#m] [D] The swimming suits [A] are on the [F#] line, just ride.
[F#m] I'll [G] meet you there for our [A] conversation.
[G] Well, I hope I didn't ruin your [A] whole vacation.
[D] Now you never know how far [F#m] from home you're feeling
[D] Until you've watched the [A] shadows [F#m] cross the ceiling.
[G] You think that you already [A] appreciate life,
but you go through an experience like [G] that, you really do.
You see [A] flowers you didn't see before, it just [Bm] happens.
You don't go skipping around, you know,
going, isn't life great?
But it is.
No, you don't [G] have to [A] feel alone, just come [D] on home.
They didn't applaud, they just looked.
And I thought, oh shit, these songs are worse than I thought.
They're not even songs.
And then slowly they started applauding.
And when I got done, the owner of the place offered me a job.
I said, doing what?
And he said, singing.
[D] I said, you're kidding me.
When I was a child, [G] my [D] family would travel
Down to western Kentucky, [A] where my [D] parents were born.
There's a backwards old town, [G] that's all I'll [D] ever remember.
So many times, [A] that I'll never [D] really want.
Daddy, won't you [G] take me back to [D] Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river, [A] where the pure [D] dies away.
I'm sorry my [G] son, for making you a [D]
nasty
Mr.
Peabody's poor train, [A] is a [D]-holdin' you away.
I was making a thousand dollars under the table,
singing in a folk club in Chicago,
next to a fireplace to [G] a bunch of people that [A] had turtle necks [D] on,
instead of walking through the snow for two weeks, delivering mail.
So I quit the post office, slept late,
and I'd sing four [A] nights a week,
[D] and put a thousand bucks in my pocket.
I was living on High Street.
Sometimes we travel [G] right down [D] the green river
To the abandoned old prison down by the hill.
[G#] I was very innocent when I wrote those first songs.
I didn't sit around fantasizing about being a recording [N] artist,
getting played on the radio and this and that.
I was just happy to be there,
let alone be making my living at singing.
It'd be a really good sign if they don't have my records,
that means nobody sold them.
Lloyd Price, Les Paul, Mary Ford.
This is when album art was album art.
This is all jazz.
I'm thinking maybe they would have put them in country.
I should be right after Charlie Pride.
There's a lot of Charlie Pride here.
Some of it's unopened too.
I'm safe.
Me and Elvis, Major War Ambassador.
[G]
That, um, [Em] first [G] of all, this is his.
Hammering on that G thing, just like Christopherson's got that.
I got the first record all the way up through German [F] Afternoons
all in like a week or two, and digested it [N] all.
And I just remember thinking that I wanted to be good like that.
There's no xylophone phase, there's no
And then he kind of did nursery rhymes for a minute.
It's just always like, look out.
Sit down, Randy Newman.
Randy Newman's pretty great too.
There's very few craftsmen like John, though,
who can so perfectly articulate a character in a scene.
Over the course of one song, he'll make you laugh and make you cry
and then make you hopeful and doubtful.
He's the closest thing I could imagine to ever being around
like Mark Twain or something.
Please don't bury me in that cold, cold ground.
Rather have you cut me up and pass me all around.
I mean, that's, that makes you laugh.
We went up there to save our marriage
and perhaps catch a few fish.
Crying ice cubes, hoping I'd croak.
Till the sun come through the window and the ice all broke.
Stood up and laughed, thought it was a joke.
Yeah, it's the way the world goes round.
Let me put it this way.
So if that, what do they call it, the bro thing,
where it's like, here comes a kick-ass list of country shit.
You know, right?
Trucks and vocals and that.
If that got replaced by a bunch of young people
that were trying to be like [G#m] John Prine,
as an old man who sits around watching it,
I would [D] be like, that would be my, you know.
I mean, it's probably [F#m] a very good time for me to put a record out.
[D] Young people are naming me as an influence
and my audience [F#m] has tripled in the last five years.
[D] Were you nervous about starting a new album?
Not after [F#m] having cancer twice.
I'm not scared of nothing.
[D] Summer's end, around the [F#] bend, just fly.
[F#m] [D] The swimming suits [A] are on the [F#] line, just ride.
[F#m] I'll [G] meet you there for our [A] conversation.
[G] Well, I hope I didn't ruin your [A] whole vacation.
[D] Now you never know how far [F#m] from home you're feeling
[D] Until you've watched the [A] shadows [F#m] cross the ceiling.
[G] You think that you already [A] appreciate life,
but you go through an experience like [G] that, you really do.
You see [A] flowers you didn't see before, it just [Bm] happens.
You don't go skipping around, you know,
going, isn't life great?
But it is.
No, you don't [G] have to [A] feel alone, just come [D] on home.
Key:
D
G
A
F#m
F#
D
G
A
_ _ The first time I got on stage, people looked at me.
They didn't applaud, they just looked.
And I thought, oh shit, these songs are worse than I thought.
They're not even songs.
And then slowly they started applauding.
And when I got done, the owner of the place offered me a job.
I said, doing what?
And he said, singing.
[D] I said, you're kidding me. _ _ _
When I was a child, [G] my [D] family would travel
Down to western Kentucky, [A] where my [D] parents were born.
_ There's a backwards old town, [G] that's all I'll [D] ever remember.
So many times, [A] that I'll never [D] really want.
_ Daddy, won't you [G] take me back to [D] Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river, [A] where the pure [D] dies away.
_ I'm sorry my [G] son, for making you a [D]
nasty
Mr.
Peabody's poor train, [A] is a [D]-holdin' you away.
I was making a thousand dollars under the table,
singing in a folk club in Chicago,
next to a fireplace to [G] a bunch of people that [A] had turtle necks [D] on,
instead of walking through the snow for two weeks, delivering mail.
So I quit the post office, slept late,
and I'd sing four [A] nights a week,
[D] and put a thousand bucks in my pocket.
I was living on High Street.
Sometimes we travel [G] right down [D] the green river
To the abandoned old prison down by the hill.
_ [G#] I was very innocent when I wrote those first songs.
I didn't sit around fantasizing about being a recording [N] artist,
getting played on the radio and this and that.
I was just happy to be there,
let alone be making my living at singing.
It'd be a really good sign if they don't have my records,
that means nobody sold them.
_ Lloyd Price, Les Paul, Mary Ford. _
This is when album art was album art.
This is all jazz.
I'm thinking maybe they would have put them in country.
I should be right after Charlie Pride. _ _ _
_ There's a lot of Charlie Pride here.
_ Some of it's unopened too.
I'm safe.
Me and Elvis, Major War Ambassador.
[G]
That, um, [Em] first [G] of all, this is his. _ _ _ _
Hammering on that G thing, just like Christopherson's got that. _ _
I got the first record all the way up through German [F] Afternoons
all in like a week or two, and digested it [N] all.
And I just remember thinking that I wanted to be good like that.
There's no xylophone phase, there's no_
And then he kind of did nursery rhymes for a minute.
It's just always like, look out.
Sit down, Randy Newman.
_ Randy Newman's pretty great too.
There's very few craftsmen like John, though,
who can so _ perfectly articulate a character in a scene.
Over the course of one song, he'll make you laugh and make you cry
and then make you hopeful and doubtful.
He's the closest thing I could imagine to ever being around
like Mark Twain or something.
Please don't bury me in that cold, cold ground.
Rather have you cut me up and pass me all around.
I mean, that's, that makes you laugh.
We went up there to save our marriage
and perhaps catch a few fish. _
Crying ice cubes, hoping I'd croak.
Till the sun come through the window and the ice all broke.
Stood up and laughed, thought it was a joke.
Yeah, it's the way the world goes round.
Let me put it this way.
So if that, what do they call it, the bro thing,
where it's like, here comes a kick-ass list of country shit.
You know, right?
Trucks and vocals and that.
If that got replaced by a bunch of young people
that were trying to be like [G#m] John Prine,
as an old man who sits around watching it,
I would [D] be like, that would be my, you know.
_ _ I mean, it's probably [F#m] a very good time for me to put a record out.
[D] Young people are naming me as an influence
and my audience [F#m] has tripled in the last five years.
[D] Were you nervous about starting a new album?
Not after [F#m] having cancer twice.
I'm not scared of nothing.
[D] Summer's end, around the [F#] bend, just fly.
[F#m] _ [D] The swimming suits [A] are on the [F#] line, just ride.
_ [F#m] I'll [G] meet you there for our [A] _ _ conversation.
[G] Well, I hope I didn't ruin your [A] whole vacation.
[D] Now you never know how far [F#m] from home you're feeling
[D] Until you've watched the [A] shadows [F#m] cross the ceiling.
[G] You think that you already [A] appreciate life,
but you go through an experience like [G] that, you really do.
You see [A] flowers you didn't see before, it just [Bm] happens.
You don't go skipping around, you know,
going, isn't life great?
But it is.
No, you don't [G] have to _ [A] feel alone, _ just come [D] on home. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
They didn't applaud, they just looked.
And I thought, oh shit, these songs are worse than I thought.
They're not even songs.
And then slowly they started applauding.
And when I got done, the owner of the place offered me a job.
I said, doing what?
And he said, singing.
[D] I said, you're kidding me. _ _ _
When I was a child, [G] my [D] family would travel
Down to western Kentucky, [A] where my [D] parents were born.
_ There's a backwards old town, [G] that's all I'll [D] ever remember.
So many times, [A] that I'll never [D] really want.
_ Daddy, won't you [G] take me back to [D] Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river, [A] where the pure [D] dies away.
_ I'm sorry my [G] son, for making you a [D]
nasty
Mr.
Peabody's poor train, [A] is a [D]-holdin' you away.
I was making a thousand dollars under the table,
singing in a folk club in Chicago,
next to a fireplace to [G] a bunch of people that [A] had turtle necks [D] on,
instead of walking through the snow for two weeks, delivering mail.
So I quit the post office, slept late,
and I'd sing four [A] nights a week,
[D] and put a thousand bucks in my pocket.
I was living on High Street.
Sometimes we travel [G] right down [D] the green river
To the abandoned old prison down by the hill.
_ [G#] I was very innocent when I wrote those first songs.
I didn't sit around fantasizing about being a recording [N] artist,
getting played on the radio and this and that.
I was just happy to be there,
let alone be making my living at singing.
It'd be a really good sign if they don't have my records,
that means nobody sold them.
_ Lloyd Price, Les Paul, Mary Ford. _
This is when album art was album art.
This is all jazz.
I'm thinking maybe they would have put them in country.
I should be right after Charlie Pride. _ _ _
_ There's a lot of Charlie Pride here.
_ Some of it's unopened too.
I'm safe.
Me and Elvis, Major War Ambassador.
[G]
That, um, [Em] first [G] of all, this is his. _ _ _ _
Hammering on that G thing, just like Christopherson's got that. _ _
I got the first record all the way up through German [F] Afternoons
all in like a week or two, and digested it [N] all.
And I just remember thinking that I wanted to be good like that.
There's no xylophone phase, there's no_
And then he kind of did nursery rhymes for a minute.
It's just always like, look out.
Sit down, Randy Newman.
_ Randy Newman's pretty great too.
There's very few craftsmen like John, though,
who can so _ perfectly articulate a character in a scene.
Over the course of one song, he'll make you laugh and make you cry
and then make you hopeful and doubtful.
He's the closest thing I could imagine to ever being around
like Mark Twain or something.
Please don't bury me in that cold, cold ground.
Rather have you cut me up and pass me all around.
I mean, that's, that makes you laugh.
We went up there to save our marriage
and perhaps catch a few fish. _
Crying ice cubes, hoping I'd croak.
Till the sun come through the window and the ice all broke.
Stood up and laughed, thought it was a joke.
Yeah, it's the way the world goes round.
Let me put it this way.
So if that, what do they call it, the bro thing,
where it's like, here comes a kick-ass list of country shit.
You know, right?
Trucks and vocals and that.
If that got replaced by a bunch of young people
that were trying to be like [G#m] John Prine,
as an old man who sits around watching it,
I would [D] be like, that would be my, you know.
_ _ I mean, it's probably [F#m] a very good time for me to put a record out.
[D] Young people are naming me as an influence
and my audience [F#m] has tripled in the last five years.
[D] Were you nervous about starting a new album?
Not after [F#m] having cancer twice.
I'm not scared of nothing.
[D] Summer's end, around the [F#] bend, just fly.
[F#m] _ [D] The swimming suits [A] are on the [F#] line, just ride.
_ [F#m] I'll [G] meet you there for our [A] _ _ conversation.
[G] Well, I hope I didn't ruin your [A] whole vacation.
[D] Now you never know how far [F#m] from home you're feeling
[D] Until you've watched the [A] shadows [F#m] cross the ceiling.
[G] You think that you already [A] appreciate life,
but you go through an experience like [G] that, you really do.
You see [A] flowers you didn't see before, it just [Bm] happens.
You don't go skipping around, you know,
going, isn't life great?
But it is.
No, you don't [G] have to _ [A] feel alone, _ just come [D] on home. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _