The Old Mans Tale

Intro
Dm C Am Dm

Verse 1
At The DmTurning Of The CCentury I AmWas A Boy Of DmFive
Me DmFather Went To Fight The Boers And He CNever Came Back AFliA7ve
Oh Me DmMother Was Left To Bring Us Up, And No AmCharity She'd DmSeek
So She DmWashed And Scrubbed And CScraped Along On AmSeven And Six A DmWeek

Verse 2
When DmI Was Twelve I CLeft The School And I AmWent To Find A DmJob
And With DmGrowing Kids My Ma Was Glad Of The CExtra Couple Of FBoA7b
I'm DmSure That Longer Schooling Would Have AmStood Me In Good DmStead
But You DmCan't Afford ReCfinements When You're AmStruggling For Your DmBread

Verse 3
And DmWhen The Great War CCame Along I AmDidn't HesiDmtate
IDm Took The Royal Shilling And Went COff To Do My FBiA7t
We DmFought In Mud And Tears And Blood Three AmYears Or ThereaDmbouts
Till I DmCopped Some Gas In CFlanders And Was AmInvalided DmOut

Verse 4
And DmWhen The War Was COver And We'd AmFinished With The DmGuns
We DmGot Back Into Civvies And We CThought The Fighting FDoneA7​
We'd DmWon The Right To Live In Peace But We AmDidn't Have Such DmLuck
For DmSoon We Found We CHad To Fight For The AmRight To Go To DmWork

Interlude
Dm C Am Dm

Verse 5
In 'Dm26 The CGeneral Strike Saw AmMe Out On The DmStreets
And DmI'd A Wife And Kids By Then And Their CNeeds I Had To FMeeA7t
For A DmBrave New World Was Coming And A AmBrotherhood Of DmMen
And DmWhen The Strike Was COver We Were AmBack Where We BeDmgan

Verse 6
Oh I DmStruggled Through The CThirties Out Of AmWork Now And ADmgain
I DmSaw The Black Shirts Marching And The CThings They Did In FSpainA7​
I DmBrought Me Kids Up Decent And I AmTaught Them Wrong From DmRight
Oh And DmHitler Was The CBoy That Came And He AmTaught Them How To DmFight

Verse 7
My DmDaughter Was A CLandgirl, She Got AmMarried To A DmYank
And They DmGave Me Son A Medal For Stopping COne Of Rommel's FTanksA7​
He Was DmWounded Just Before The End And He AmConvalesced In DmRome
He DmMarried An ICtalian Nurse And Never AmBothered To Come DmHome

Verse 8
My DmDaughter Writes Me COnce A Month, A AmCheerful Little DmNote
ADmbout Their Colour Tellys And The COther Things They've FGotA7​
They've DmGot A Son, A Likely Lad; He's AmNearly Twenty-DmOne
And They DmTell Me Now He's CBeen Called Up To AmFight In VietDmnam

Verse 9
We're DmLiving On The CPension Now, It AmDoesn't Go Too DmFar
Not DmMuch To Show For A Life That Seems Like COne Long Bloody FWarA7​
And When You DmThink Of All The Wasted Lives It AmMakes You Want To DmCry
I'm DmNot Sure How To CChange Things, But By AmChrist We'll Have To DmTry