Chords for Paul Simon - God Bless The Absentee

_ _ [Bb] Okay, here we go. _
[Fm] Two [Eb] bands perform [D] at the Agora.
We got a review.
[Fm] _
The [Eb] Agora presented [Bb] an evening of diverse [Fm] musical [F] styles last [Bb] night
when it paired [Fm] a new wave [Bb] band, the B _ -52s, with the veteran [Fm] Joan Eleven [Bb] band.
B-52s [Fm] are the latest darlings of the new wave of rock that is sometimes [Fm] called [Eb] punk.
_ [Bb] Let's get that shit.
Let's hear [Fm] about us.
[Eb] Lord, I [Bb] am a working [F] man, _ [Eb] music [Bb] is my [Ab] trade.
[F] I'm [Eb] traveling with [Bb] this five-piece band, [C] I play the ace of spades. _ _
[Fm] _ [Gm] I have a [Ab] wife and [A] family, [Bbm] but they don't [Ab] see [Eb] much in [Gb] me. _
[F] God bless the [Bb] absentee.
This highly [Fm] regarded band of the late [Bb] 60s and 70s [Fm] hasn't [Eb] appeared in [Bb] Cleveland for some time.
[Fm] _
Perhaps [F] this accounted for the muted [Bb] reception [Fm] that greeted [Eb] their performance [Bb] on the early show last [Fm] night.
Lord, [Eb] I [Bb] am a surgeon, [F] _ _
music [Eb] is [Bb] my knife.
_ [F]
It cuts [Eb] away [Bb] my sorrow, _ _
[C] _ purifies my life. _
[Fm] But if [Eb] I could [Ab] release [A] my heart [Bbm] from veins [Ab] and [Eb] artery,
_ [Gb] I'd [F] say, God [B] bless the _ [Bb] absentee. _
[Fm] I [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Ebm] _ _ miss my woman so, [D] _ I miss [Gb] my band. _
[C] _ I miss [B] those soft places [C] I used to lay my head. _
[Ab] The [F] drummer, [Bb] whose name I didn't get, [Fm] _ _ _ [Bb] was as solid as a [Ab] metronome.
The [Bb] bassist and piano player were equally [C] competent, if uninspiring. _ _
[Fm] Uninspiring.
_ [Eb] However, [Ab] lead [A] guitarist [Bbm] Lee Andrew [Ab] Parker was a real [Eb] gem,
[Ebm] playing [F] some of the [B] most _ [Bb] _ mellifluous solos this reviewer [Fm] has heard in a [Bb] long time.
Okay.
_ [Fm] That's mellifluous.
[Eb] _ _
[Bb] What do you mean?
I brought the [Ebm] same quotation.
My son don't need me [D] yet, his [Gb] bones are soft.
_ [C] He flies a silver [B] _ airplane, [C] he wears a golden _ cross.
God [Eb] bless the [Bb] absentee, _ [F] Lord, this country's [Bb] changed so [Ab] fast.
_ [Fm] The future [Bb] is the present, _ [Bbm] [C] the present's in the past.
_ [Fm] The [Eb] highways [Ab] are in litigation, [Bbm] the [Ab] airports _
[Eb] disagree.
[Gb] _ _ _ [B] God bless the absentee.
The [Bb] band's 50-minute set consisted [Fm] of some familiar Levin compositions,
though he left out [Eb] soft [Bb] parachutes, his anti [Fm]-war hit in the late [Bb] 60s.
_ Levin himself [Fm] seems somewhat [Eb] less ambitious [Bb] these days,
[Ab] or maybe we just caught [Bb] him on an off night.
[Fm] The fire of his [Eb] earlier works [Bb] seems to have dimmed somewhat,
although sparks were still visible at [Ab] times last night in the [F] Agora.
_ _ [C] _ Who gives a shit?
_ _ [D] Fuck him, right? _ _
Yeah, fuck him.
Who gives a shit?
[G] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] He read that part about [Fm] me again.
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