Ghost Of Guy Clark

Intro
C

Verse 1
                C
The old man was sitting on the tailgate of a '62 Ford flatbed
C2/B     Am
 Picking on an old guitar, he looked at me and he said, "The engine's dead
         F
It was a good run son," as he strummed a melancholy chord
              C
"Now I've got nothing but time to kill until the coming of the Lord"

Verse 2
      C
Well, he played me a few songs, one about a Randall knife
C2/B  Am
 One about a train, one about the pain of losing the love of his life
Am7/G     F
He took a puff of that cigarette, blew a breath of smoke that could smother
             C
He said "They always said these would kill me and they did," then he laughed and he lit another

Verse 3
            C
He said, "I hear that you write songs boy, play me one that I might know"
C2/B  Am
 So I sang him my latest and greatest hit and number one on music row
   F
He stopped me before I could finish the verse, said "I think I've heard enough of that
                  C
When you've heard one you've heard em all," with a grimace of a grin he took his old guitar back

Verse 4
            C
He said, "I guess that's alright if that's all you've got to give
C2/B      Am
If that's all you've got to say in this one life you've got to live
Am7/G      F
There's no meaning in your melody so predictable and weak
       C
Wasted words and shallow rhymes, I'd rather hear a woman cuss me a blue streak"

Verse 5
              C
"You see, the pencil to the pad is like the bullet to the gun
    C2/B   Am
The pen is mightier than the sword if the words are forged from fire from the sun
Am7/G    F
Yet some do it for the fame, the fun, the money and all the glory
         C
Yet some do it for their weary soul, won't rest until they tell their story"

Verse 6
                   C
"You gotta make 'em feel what you feel, help 'em dream a dream and make 'em wonder
     C2/B   Am
It's like catchin' lightning in a bottle, make 'em smell the rain and hear the thunder
Am7/G    F
 Let 'em taste the tears of joy or the bittersweet taste of sin
         C
Find the passion in a four letter word or a Sunday morning Amen"

Verse 7
C
Then he flicked his ashes and he pointed at my heart
                 Am
Said, "If you're searching for solid gold, that'd be a real good place to start
        F
Let the words speak for themselves, tell the truth, right or wrong
              C
And bare your soul for all to see, all for the sake of the song"