Chords for Loudon Wainwright - Loudon talks about his show and sings 'Half Fist'

_ There's always this little voice saying,
is this working?
What's, is this, this is, or this is going very well.
They like this one.
Ooh, they laughed at that one.
Ooh, they're all so quiet.
And ooh, this is, you know,
there's a little running commentary.
_ _ Brenda's about to berate you, Little Chog.
Any chance?
_ _ _ [A] _ _
[G] _ _ [D] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
I like to make the audience laugh
_ _ _ [F#] _
and try desperately to do so.
But _ again, if you can get that to happen
and then you [B] can swerve away from that
[N] and do something more serious,
that kind of leaves an interesting kind of [C#] vacuum,
which is, [B] which I like, you know.
There's almost a confusion in the room.
[G] _ _ [B] So you don't want the audience to fail to agree?
_ [E] Not for any length of time.
[A#] You know, I [F#m] don't want them to be,
oh, let's go listen to some, you know,
90 minutes [N] of mellow love songs
or songs about Colorado, you know,
[B] one right after the other.
_ _ I like to mix it up.
_ [D] So when they leave,
they're really glad to get out of there.
[G#] _
Okay, I'm gonna stick my [B] toe back into the genetic pool.
[E] You know, _ I figured I was running out of people
in my family to write about it.
And then I thought about my grandparents.
Yes, they're dead.
They can't be pissed off at me.
_ _ Yes, of course.
The ancestors. _ _ _ _
[C] This is about Loudon the first.
From all accounts, a swinging guy.
Ha ha ha ha.
_ [B] _ _ _ [F#m] _ _
_ _ [E] _ I've seen the family photos [A] and the man's a mystery.
[E] Died in 1942 at the age of [E] 43.
[D] My grandmother [A] was his widow [D] and my father [F#m] was his son. _ _ _
_ Ah, but I know next to nothing _ _
of the [F#m] first Loudon.
[E] They say he was an SOB who liked [A] to smoke and drink.
[E] In the photos, he looks handsome.
Trapped is [E] what I [D] think.
And there's one of [A] him in [D] uniform
and it must be [F#m] World War I. _ _
They say he [D] was an expert sailor
and could [A] handle a shotgun.
_ [E] _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ [E] _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _ [D] _
_ [A] _ [D] _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _
_ [E] In a wedding [D] portrait posing with his young bride,
[E] his right hand hidden by her bouquet,
[A] his left hanging at his side.
Closed in a kind of half fist, [F#m] unsure what he'd just done. _ _ _ _
Facing [D] his short future like [F#m] he could hit someone.
[E] It was elbows off the table before [A] the meal begun.
[E] But it's his hands I recognize, gave them to his [D] son.
Whose own [A] hands held and touched me
and [F#m] ruffled up my hair.
_ _ _ And I [D] recognize that half fist.
Oh, [A] I'd know it anyway.
_ [E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
[F#] _ _ _ [E] _ [D] _ _ [A] _ _
[F#m] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [E] Later on in the late [D] 30s, he began [A] to go to sea.
[E] In the photos, he looks loaded.
They observe and I will heed.
[A] Looking for the camera, [F#m] having a little fun.
_ _ _ A [D] cigarette in one hand
_ and a drink [F#m] in the other one.
[E] Yes, I know a little something
[D] about the [A] first Loudon.
My [E] grandmother was his widow
and my father was his son.
Tell me, [A] what are we [D] afraid of
and why do [F#m] we resist? _
_ _ I spread my hands [D] and flex my fingers.
_ [F#m] Open and close my fist. _ _
I spread my hands and [D] flex my fingers.
Open [A] and close my fist.
_ _ _ _ [N] _ _