To Beat The Devil Chords by Waylon Jennings

_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ It was wintertime in [F] Nashville, down [C] on Music City Road.
_ _ I was looking for a place to [G] get myself out of the cold,
_ [F] _ [G] to warm the [Em] frozen feeling that was [Am] eating at my soul,
_ _ [F] and keep the chilly winds off my [G] guitar.
_ _ _ [C] _ My thirsty [G] wanted a [F] whiskey, but my hungry [C] needed beans. _
Well, I guess it's been a month of [G] payday since I heard that eagle scream.
[F] _
_ [G] So with a stomach full [C] of empty and a pocket [Am] full of dreams,
_ _ [F] I left my [G] pride and stepped [C] inside a bar. _
_ _ [Am] _ Actually, I guess you could have [F] called it a tavern.
_ _ [Dm] _ Cigarette smoke through the [G] ceiling, sawdust on the floor, and [C] friendly shadows. _ _ _
I saw that there was [F] just 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 here boy, [C] [Am] show us what you are.
_ [F] I said, I'm dry.
He [G] bought me a beer.
_ _ [C] _ He nodded at my guitar [F] and said, it's tough [C] life, ain't it?
I just looked at him. _ _
[Em] He said, you [G] ain't making any money, are you?
I said, you've been reading [F] my mail.
_ [G] _
[C] He just smiled and said, let [Am] me see that guitar, I got something you ought to [C] hear.
[F]
And then [G] he laid it on me.
[C] _ _ [G] If [C] 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 going to hear?
[C] And if you should die explaining how [F] the things that they complain about
[C] are things that could be changing, [G] who do you think's going [C] to care? _
There [G] were lots of other singers in [F] a world turned deaf [C] and blind
[F] who were crucified [C] for what they tried [G] to show. _
Now [C] their voices have been scattered by [F] the swirling winds [C] of time,
and the truth remains [G] that no one wants [C] to know. _ _
_ Well, the old man was a [Em] stranger, [F] but I'd [C] heard his song before.
_ _ _ Back when failure had me [G] locked out on the wrong side of the [Em] 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.
_ _ [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, [C] but 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 am saying,
[G] praying someone's going to hear.
[C] And I guess I'll die explaining [F] how the things that they complain [C] about
are things that could be changing, [G] hoping someone's [C] going to 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 [C] feed this [Em] 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] _ _ _ [G] _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _