The Old Mans Tale

Intro
Em D Bm Em

Verse 1
At The EmTurning Of The DCentury I BmWas A Boy Of EmFive
Me EmFather Went To Fight The Boers And He DNever Came Back AGliB7ve
Oh Me EmMother Was Left To Bring Us Up, And No BmCharity She'd EmSeek
So She EmWashed And Scrubbed And DScraped Along On BmSeven And Six A EmWeek

Verse 2
When EmI Was Twelve I DLeft The School And I BmWent To Find A EmJob
And With EmGrowing Kids My Ma Was Glad Of The DExtra Couple Of GBoB7b
I'm EmSure That Longer Schooling Would Have BmStood Me In Good EmStead
But You EmCan't Afford ReDfinements When You're BmStruggling For Your EmBread

Verse 3
And EmWhen The Great War DCame Along I BmDidn't HesiEmtate
IEm Took The Royal Shilling And Went DOff To Do My GBiB7t
We EmFought In Mud And Tears And Blood Three BmYears Or ThereaEmbouts
Till I EmCopped Some Gas In DFlanders And Was BmInvalided EmOut

Verse 4
And EmWhen The War Was DOver And We'd BmFinished With The EmGuns
We EmGot Back Into Civvies And We DThought The Fighting GDoneB7​
We'd EmWon The Right To Live In Peace But We BmDidn't Have Such EmLuck
For EmSoon We Found We DHad To Fight For The BmRight To Go To EmWork

Interlude
Em D Bm Em

Verse 5
In 'Em26 The DGeneral Strike Saw BmMe Out On The EmStreets
And EmI'd A Wife And Kids By Then And Their DNeeds I Had To GMeeB7t
For A EmBrave New World Was Coming And A BmBrotherhood Of EmMen
And EmWhen The Strike Was DOver We Were BmBack Where We BeEmgan

Verse 6
Oh I EmStruggled Through The DThirties Out Of BmWork Now And AEmgain
I EmSaw The Black Shirts Marching And The DThings They Did In GSpainB7​
I EmBrought Me Kids Up Decent And I BmTaught Them Wrong From EmRight
Oh And EmHitler Was The DBoy That Came And He BmTaught Them How To EmFight

Verse 7
My EmDaughter Was A DLandgirl, She Got BmMarried To A EmYank
And They EmGave Me Son A Medal For Stopping DOne Of Rommel's GTanksB7​
He Was EmWounded Just Before The End And He BmConvalesced In EmRome
He EmMarried An IDtalian Nurse And Never BmBothered To Come EmHome

Verse 8
My EmDaughter Writes Me DOnce A Month, A BmCheerful Little EmNote
AEmbout Their Colour Tellys And The DOther Things They've GGotB7​
They've EmGot A Son, A Likely Lad; He's BmNearly Twenty-EmOne
And They EmTell Me Now He's DBeen Called Up To BmFight In VietEmnam

Verse 9
We're EmLiving On The DPension Now, It BmDoesn't Go Too EmFar
Not EmMuch To Show For A Life That Seems Like DOne Long Bloody GWarB7​
And When You EmThink Of All The Wasted Lives It BmMakes You Want To EmCry
I'm EmNot Sure How To DChange Things, But By BmChrist We'll Have To EmTry