The Old Mans Tale

Intro
Am G Em Am

Verse 1
At The AmTurning Of The GCentury I EmWas A Boy Of AmFive
Me AmFather Went To Fight The Boers And He GNever Came Back ACliE7ve
Oh Me AmMother Was Left To Bring Us Up, And No EmCharity She'd AmSeek
So She AmWashed And Scrubbed And GScraped Along On EmSeven And Six A AmWeek

Verse 2
When AmI Was Twelve I GLeft The School And I EmWent To Find A AmJob
And With AmGrowing Kids My Ma Was Glad Of The GExtra Couple Of CBoE7b
I'm AmSure That Longer Schooling Would Have EmStood Me In Good AmStead
But You AmCan't Afford ReGfinements When You're EmStruggling For Your AmBread

Verse 3
And AmWhen The Great War GCame Along I EmDidn't HesiAmtate
IAm Took The Royal Shilling And Went GOff To Do My CBiE7t
We AmFought In Mud And Tears And Blood Three EmYears Or ThereaAmbouts
Till I AmCopped Some Gas In GFlanders And Was EmInvalided AmOut

Verse 4
And AmWhen The War Was GOver And We'd EmFinished With The AmGuns
We AmGot Back Into Civvies And We GThought The Fighting CDoneE7​
We'd AmWon The Right To Live In Peace But We EmDidn't Have Such AmLuck
For AmSoon We Found We GHad To Fight For The EmRight To Go To AmWork

Interlude
Am G Em Am

Verse 5
In 'Am26 The GGeneral Strike Saw EmMe Out On The AmStreets
And AmI'd A Wife And Kids By Then And Their GNeeds I Had To CMeeE7t
For A AmBrave New World Was Coming And A EmBrotherhood Of AmMen
And AmWhen The Strike Was GOver We Were EmBack Where We BeAmgan

Verse 6
Oh I AmStruggled Through The GThirties Out Of EmWork Now And AAmgain
I AmSaw The Black Shirts Marching And The GThings They Did In CSpainE7​
I AmBrought Me Kids Up Decent And I EmTaught Them Wrong From AmRight
Oh And AmHitler Was The GBoy That Came And He EmTaught Them How To AmFight

Verse 7
My AmDaughter Was A GLandgirl, She Got EmMarried To A AmYank
And They AmGave Me Son A Medal For Stopping GOne Of Rommel's CTanksE7​
He Was AmWounded Just Before The End And He EmConvalesced In AmRome
He AmMarried An IGtalian Nurse And Never EmBothered To Come AmHome

Verse 8
My AmDaughter Writes Me GOnce A Month, A EmCheerful Little AmNote
AAmbout Their Colour Tellys And The GOther Things They've CGotE7​
They've AmGot A Son, A Likely Lad; He's EmNearly Twenty-AmOne
And They AmTell Me Now He's GBeen Called Up To EmFight In VietAmnam

Verse 9
We're AmLiving On The GPension Now, It EmDoesn't Go Too AmFar
Not AmMuch To Show For A Life That Seems Like GOne Long Bloody CWarE7​
And When You AmThink Of All The Wasted Lives It EmMakes You Want To AmCry
I'm AmNot Sure How To GChange Things, But By EmChrist We'll Have To AmTry