Chords for Susan Werner- Barbed Wire Boys

[Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] I lose [Bb] connection.
_ _ Well [F] I come from [A] _
_ the [E] rural [Bb] middle west. _
It's the land [Eb] I [Bb] love [F] more than all the [Cm] rest.
_ [D] _ _ [Bb] It's the place I know _ and [Gm] understand.
_ [Bb] _
Like a [Cm] false front [Eb] building, like the back of my hand.
[A] _ [F] And the men [Eb] I knew when I [Bb] was coming up
_ _ were sober as coffee in a _ [Ab] styrofoam cup.
[D] _ _
There were [Bb] Earls and Rays, _ Harlins and [Eb] Roys.
[Bb] _ They were full [Eb] grown men.
[F] _ _ [Eb] They were barbed wire boys.
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ [Bb] _ They raised [F] grain and cattle on the treeless [Bb] fields.
_ Sat up ahead of the [Eb] table [Bb]
and prayed before [Cm] _ [D] meals. _
Prayed in [Bb] our father and that was [Gm] enough.
[Bb] _ _ You pray [Eb] more than that _ and you couldn't [A] stay tough.
Tough as the [Bb] busted _ thumbnails [Ebm]
on their [Bb] withered hands.
_ They worked the gold plate off their wedding [Cm] band.
[D] _ _ And they [Bb] never complained, no they never [Gm] made noise.
[Bb] _
And they never left [Eb] home _ [Cm] _ these [Eb] _ barbed wire boys.
[Bb] _
_ _ Cause their wildest dreams _ were all [Eb] fenced in
by the [Bb] weight of family, by the feeling [F] of sin.
_ [Bb] _ That'll prick [Gm] your skin at the slightest [Eb] touch
[Bb] if you reach too [Eb] _ far, if you feel [F] too _ much.
So [Bb] their deepest hopes never were expressed.
_ _ Just beating like birds' [F] wings in the [Bbm] cage of their [Eb] _ [D] chests.
All the restless [Bb] _ _ longings, all the secret _ joys
[Bbm] that never [Eb] were set free _ [F] in the [Eb] barbed [Fm] wire _
[F] boys.
_ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Cm] _ _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ And now one [B] by one _ they're departing [Gm] this earth.
_ [Bb]
And it's clear to [Ab] me now exactly [D] what they're [Cm] worth.
[D] _ Oh they were just [Gm] like Atlas [Bb] holding up the [Eb] sky.
[Bb] _ You never [Ab] heard him speak, [Eb] you never saw him [F] cry. _ _ _
But where [Bb] do the tears [Eb] go that you [Bb] never shed?
_ Where do the [Eb]
words [Bb] go that you never [Eb] said?
[D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
There's a [Gm] blink of the eye, [Bb] _ there's a catch [Ebm] in the _ [Bb] voice.
It [Cm] _ _
is the unsung [Eb] song _ of the barbed [F] wire _ _ boys.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ [Eb] _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _