Chords for To Beat The Devil

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It was wintertime in Nashville, [C] down on Music City Road.
_ _ I was looking for a place to [G] get myself out of the cold,
_ [F] _ [G] to warm the frozen [C] feeling that was [Am] eating at my soul,
_ _ [F] and keep the chilly winds off my [G] guitar.
_ _ _ [C] My thirsty wanted whiskey, [F] but my [C] hungry needed beans.
_ _ But I guess it's been a month of [G] payday since I heard that eagle scream.
[F] _
[G] So with a [C] stomach full of empty and [Am] a pocket full of dreams, _ _
[F] I [G] left my pride and stepped inside a bar. _ _
[Am] _ _ Actually, I [F] guess you could have called it a tavern. _
_ [Dm] _ Cigarette smoke to the ceiling, [G] sawdust on the floor, and [D] [C] friendly shadows.
_ _ _ I saw that there was just [F] one old man sitting [C] at the bar, _ _ _
and in the mirror I could see him [G] checking me and my guitar.
_ [F] _
[G] He said, come up [C] here boy, [Am] show us what you are.
_ [F] I said, I'm dry.
[G] He bought me a beer.
_ [C] _ _ He nodded at [F] my guitar and said, it's tough [C] life, ain't it?
And I just looked at him.
_ _ [B] [G] He said, you ain't making any money, are you?
I [F] said, you've been reading my mail.
_ _ [C]
He just [Am] smiled and said, let me see that guitar, I got something you ought to hear.
[F] And then [G] he laid it on me.
[C] _ _ [G] _ [C] If you waste your time talking to [F] the people who don't listen
to [C] the things that you are saying, [G] who do you think's gonna hear?
[C] And if you should die [F] explaining how the things that they complain about
[C] are things they could be changing, [G] who do you think's gonna [C] care?
_ There [G] were lots of other singers in [F] a world turned deaf [C] and blind
[F] who were crucified [C] for what [G] they tried to show.
_ Now [C] their voices have been scattered by [F] the swirling winds [C] of time
and the truth remains [G] that no [C] one wants to know. _ _ _
Well, the old man was a stranger, [F] but I'd [C] heard his song before.
_ _ _ Back when failure had me [G] locked out on the wrong side of the door,
[F] _ [G] no one stood [C] behind me but [Am] my shadow on the floor.
_ _ [F] And lonesome was more than [G] a state of mind.
[D] _ _ [C] You see, the devil haunts the [F] hungry man, [C] _ and if you don't want to join him,
you've just got to figure out some way [G] to beat him.
_ _ [F] I ain't saying I beat [G] the devil, but [C] I did drink his [Am] beer for nothing, _ _ _
[F] and [G] then I stole his song.
[C] _ _ _
You can still hear me singing [F] to the people who don't listen
[C] to the things that I'm saying, [G] praying someone's gonna hear.
[C] And I guess I'll die explaining [F] how the things that they complain [C] about
are things they could be changing, [G] hoping someone's [C] gonna care.
_ [G] I was born to be a singer, [F] and I'm bound to [C] die the same,
but [F] I've got to feed [C] this hunger in [G] my soul.
If [C] I never have a nickel, [F] I won't [C] die ashamed,
because I do believe [G] that someone [C] wants to know. _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ [F] _ _ [G] _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _