The Old Mans Tale

Intro
Cm A# Gm Cm

Verse 1
At The CmTurning Of The A#Century I WGmas A Boy Of FCmive
Me CmFather Went To Fight The Boers And He A#Never Came Back AlD#iveG7​
Oh Me CmMother Was Left To Bring Us Up, And No GmCharity She'd CmSeek
So She CmWashed And Scrubbed And A#Scraped Along On SGmeven And Six A WCmeek

Verse 2
When CmI Was Twelve I A#Left The School And I WGment To Find A JCmob
And With CmGrowing Kids My Ma Was Glad Of The A#Extra Couple Of BD#ob G7​
I'm CmSure That Longer Schooling Would Have GmStood Me In Good CmStead
But You CmCan't Afford ReA#finements When You're SGmtruggling For Your BCmread

Verse 3
And CmWhen The Great War A#Came Along I DGmidn't HesitCmate
ICm Took The Royal Shilling And Went A#Off To Do My BD#it G7​
We CmFought In Mud And Tears And Blood Three GmYears Or ThereaCmbouts
Till I CmCopped Some Gas In A#Flanders And Was IGmnvalided OCmut

Verse 4
And CmWhen The War Was A#Over And We'd FGminished With The GCmuns
We CmGot Back Into Civvies And We A#Thought The Fighting DD#one  G7​
We'd CmWon The Right To Live In Peace But We GmDidn't Have Such CmLuck
For CmSoon We Found We A#Had To Fight For The RGmight To Go To WCmork

Interlude
Cm A# Gm Cm

Verse 5
In 'Cm26 The A#General Strike Saw MGme Out On The SCmtreets
And CmI'd A Wife And Kids By Then And Their A#Needs I Had To MD#eet G7​
For A CmBrave New World Was Coming And A GmBrotherhood Of CmMen
And CmWhen The Strike Was A#Over We Were BGmack Where We BegCman

Verse 6
Oh I CmStruggled Through The A#Thirties Out Of WGmork Now And AgCmain
I CmSaw The Black Shirts Marching And The A#Things They Did In SD#pain  G7​
I CmBrought Me Kids Up Decent And I GmTaught Them Wrong From CmRight
Oh And CmHitler Was The A#Boy That Came And He TGmaught Them How To FCmight

Verse 7
My CmDaughter Was A A#Landgirl, She Got MGmarried To A YCmank
And They CmGave Me Son A Medal For Stopping A#One Of Rommel's TD#anks  G7​
He Was CmWounded Just Before The End And He GmConvalesced In CmRome
He CmMarried An IA#talian Nurse And Never BGmothered To Come HCmome

Verse 8
My CmDaughter Writes Me A#Once A Month, A CGmheerful Little NCmote
ACmbout Their Colour Tellys And The A#Other Things They've GD#ot  G7​
They've CmGot A Son, A Likely Lad; He's GmNearly Twenty-CmOne
And They CmTell Me Now He's A#Been Called Up To FGmight In VietnCmam

Verse 9
We're CmLiving On The A#Pension Now, It DGmoesn't Go Too FCmar
Not CmMuch To Show For A Life That Seems Like A#One Long Bloody WD#ar  G7​
And When You CmThink Of All The Wasted Lives It GmMakes You Want To CmCry
I'm CmNot Sure How To A#Change Things, But By CGmhrist We'll Have To TCmry