G        F    C
G        F    C
G        F    C
Hey, hey!
G        F    C

[Verse 1]
G
Clothes shootin’ don’t kill no birds
F                 C
I’m standin’ tall with the rest of the girls
        G
Hangin’ on, to my mama’s every word
       F                     C
Gonna’ sing ‘em out loud and conquer the world
F
All them faces on the pictures up there
C
Makes me remember when my table was bare
G
Livin’, at my mama’s house
       F             C7
Takin’ food, from my family’s mouth...before the money came

[Verse 2]
      G
I was singing R’n’B back in ‘62
       F                      C
Before you were born and your mama too
       G
I knew David Ruffin when he was hopeless
         F             C
Sleeping on my floor before he crossed over
F
All my friends on the Grammy shows
      C
I was stuck in Detroit trying to open doors
G
Record deals kept falling apart
F                        C7
One with Atlantic nearly broke my heart...before the money came

[Bridge]
Bb    F       C7
      I got a lot to say
Bb    F              C7
      So proud I was built this way
G
Some folks didn’t see my worth
F
Didn’t know where I fit in
G
Fourty years I kept on singing
F                        C7
Before the money started rolling in

[Guitar solo – 8 measures]
G        F    C
G        F    C
G        F    C
G        F    C

[Verse 3]
    G
Oh, there was a time when I would call it luck
     F                C
If I got me a gig for fifty bucks
      G
Now I got all these big decisions to make
      F                        C
Never thought success would be hard to take
F
Shoes on my feet, more in the closet
C
Silk on my skin, more if I want it
G
All these years I kept my style
  F                          C7
I wouldn’t cross over, so it took me a while...before the money came

[Bridge]
Bb    F     C7
Yo!   I got so much to say
Bb    F                   C7
      So damn proud I was built this way
G
Some folks didn’t see my worth
F
Didn’t know where I fit in
G
Forty years I kept singing
  F                      C7
Before the money started rolling in

[Outro]
Bb   F     C7

Bb   F     C7
Before the money came, before the money came
Bb   F     C7
Before the money came, before the money came