D - Dsus4 - D - Dsus2
G - G - Gmaj7 - G6
Em - Em/G - Emadd9 - Em
A - A7/G - A6/E - A

                  D   Dsus4     D     Dsus2
It was my first night in that roomin' house
        G                 Gmaj7    G6
In the last room down the hall
            Em   Em/G      Emadd9  Em
I heard a hoarse voice and an old guitar
  A                A7/G     A6/E    A
Comin' through the paper thin wall

D        Dsus4      D    Dsus2
A crazy nonsense nursery rhyme
 G                  Gmaj7   G6
That did not mean a thing
             Em           Em/G       Emadd9   Em
But for the first of what was to be a thousand times
 A             A7/G    A6/E  A
This is what I heard him sing

          D
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
  G
'Till I found the G
         Em
Drop it down to old E-minor
          A                                 D
'Till the A chord rolls back home around to D

   D
I had to lay there listening
     F#m
It seemed he was in my room
        Em
This stranger with his melody
  A
Singin' there in the gloom

          Bb
And he repeated it over and over again
        F
Such a soft and sinkin' sound
        Am
It was kinda like a music box
           Em            G
That was slowly windin' down

            F
You see he sang it, he hummed it
      Em
He whistled it, and he strummed it
      G     G/F#      Em
He laughed it and he cried it
            A
He did everything but hide it... and he sang

          D
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
  G
'Till I found the G
         Em
Drop it down to old E-minor
          A                                  G    G/F# - A
'Till the A chord rolls back home around for me

      D         Dsus4     D        Dsus2
So I laid there in that lumpy bed
            G                        Gmaj7 - G6
Countin' choruses instead of sheep
          Em          Em/G   Emadd9  Em
'Till I banged on the wall and out I called
      A
"Hey Bub, I need some sleep"

D
A sudden void of silence
         G
Then I heard that hoarse voice say
Em
It weren't so long ago boy
 A               G      A
They paid me to play

              D
I said it's kinda late for music sir
     F#m
Two hours 'till it's day light
            Em
He answered I need my music most
          A
In these dark hours of the night

              Bb
You see I've tried gettin' high on something son
        F
But it only brings me down
        Am
Stayin' dry don't work out better boy
           Em                  G
'Cause my eyes get wet and I drown
            F
Won't you please let me continue
     Em
And I'll be in your debt
         G          G/F#  Em
See I'm not singing to remember son
        A
I'm just singing to forget
And he sang

          D
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
  G
'Till I found the G
         Em
Drop it down to old E-minor
          A                                  G    G/F# - A
'Till the A chord rolls back home around for me

               C                        G/B
That's when I said if I'm supposed to listen to you sir
     Am7          G
Just one quick question then
 F                     F/E
Why in the hell do you sing one song
 A
Over and over again?

And this is what he said...

D - Dsus4 - D - Dsus2 (2x's)
         D Dsus4          D   Dsus2
He said, I gave her the music son
 G              Gmaj7   G6
She gave me the words
   Em         Em/G    Emadd9   Em
Together we'd write the kind of songs
       A    A7/G A6/E  A
That angels musta  heard

      D        Dsus4       D       Dsus2
Of course we'd fight like cats and dogs
     G                    Gmaj7   G6
But life ain't no rosebud dream
             Em         Em/G   Emadd9   Em
But still whatever we'd do     everybody knew
A        A7/G A6/E  A
We truly were a team

           D
I can't remember now if I'd done her wrong
      F#m
Or if she done wrong to me
    Em
But all I know's that when I let her go
         A
That it did not set me free

               Bb
That's when I said you sound like what's his name
    F
He said that's who I am
         Am
But you can't wrap a name around you boy
            Em                 G
'Cause it really don't mean a damn

           F
You see a song don't have much meaning
         Em
When it don't have nothing to say
      G        G/F#    Em
What she could do was magic son
    A                    A - A7/G - A6/E - A
All I could do was play

              D
He started singing again, that's when I drifted off
 F#m
Maybe I dreamed what I heard
              Em
About this stranger with his melody
       A
Who'd gone and lost the words

         D
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
  G
'Till I found the G
         Em
Drop it down to old E-minor
          A                                      D
'Till the A chord rolls back home around to D