The Old Mans Tale

Intro
Gm F Dm Gm

Verse 1
At The GmTurning Of The FCentury I DmWas A Boy Of GmFive
Me GmFather Went To Fight The Boers And He FNever Came Back AA#livD7e
Oh Me GmMother Was Left To Bring Us Up, And No DmCharity She'd GmSeek
So She GmWashed And Scrubbed And FScraped Along On DmSeven And Six A GmWeek

Verse 2
When GmI Was Twelve I FLeft The School And I DmWent To Find A GmJob
And With GmGrowing Kids My Ma Was Glad Of The FExtra Couple Of A#BobD7​
I'm GmSure That Longer Schooling Would Have DmStood Me In Good GmStead
But You GmCan't Afford ReFfinements When You're DmStruggling For Your GmBread

Verse 3
And GmWhen The Great War FCame Along I DmDidn't HesiGmtate
IGm Took The Royal Shilling And Went FOff To Do My A#BitD7​
We GmFought In Mud And Tears And Blood Three DmYears Or ThereaGmbouts
Till I GmCopped Some Gas In FFlanders And Was DmInvalided GmOut

Verse 4
And GmWhen The War Was FOver And We'd DmFinished With The GmGuns
We GmGot Back Into Civvies And We FThought The Fighting A#Done D7​
We'd GmWon The Right To Live In Peace But We DmDidn't Have Such GmLuck
For GmSoon We Found We FHad To Fight For The DmRight To Go To GmWork

Interlude
Gm F Dm Gm

Verse 5
In 'Gm26 The FGeneral Strike Saw DmMe Out On The GmStreets
And GmI'd A Wife And Kids By Then And Their FNeeds I Had To A#MeetD7​
For A GmBrave New World Was Coming And A DmBrotherhood Of GmMen
And GmWhen The Strike Was FOver We Were DmBack Where We BeGmgan

Verse 6
Oh I GmStruggled Through The FThirties Out Of DmWork Now And AGmgain
I GmSaw The Black Shirts Marching And The FThings They Did In A#Spain D7​
I GmBrought Me Kids Up Decent And I DmTaught Them Wrong From GmRight
Oh And GmHitler Was The FBoy That Came And He DmTaught Them How To GmFight

Verse 7
My GmDaughter Was A FLandgirl, She Got DmMarried To A GmYank
And They GmGave Me Son A Medal For Stopping FOne Of Rommel's A#Tanks D7​
He Was GmWounded Just Before The End And He DmConvalesced In GmRome
He GmMarried An IFtalian Nurse And Never DmBothered To Come GmHome

Verse 8
My GmDaughter Writes Me FOnce A Month, A DmCheerful Little GmNote
AGmbout Their Colour Tellys And The FOther Things They've A#Got D7​
They've GmGot A Son, A Likely Lad; He's DmNearly Twenty-GmOne
And They GmTell Me Now He's FBeen Called Up To DmFight In VietGmnam

Verse 9
We're GmLiving On The FPension Now, It DmDoesn't Go Too GmFar
Not GmMuch To Show For A Life That Seems Like FOne Long Bloody A#War D7​
And When You GmThink Of All The Wasted Lives It DmMakes You Want To GmCry
I'm GmNot Sure How To FChange Things, But By DmChrist We'll Have To GmTry