Am                                              G
It was a sunday in east Berlin i chanced upon a market
                                                          Am
i though how love or lack thereof matched the coins in my pocket
                                            G
but thats ok i have no pay im happy all the same
                                                        Am
to look through a box of broken clocks and old Atari games

    C                           G               Am
and racks of army uniforms of both the west and east
    C                                   G       Am
and postcards sent to people who were long ago deceased

Am                                        G
a plastic orange comb left over from the GDR
                                                Am
and in a nook behind some books an old parlour guitar


Am                                                      G
it was sat upon a wooden packing crate that had been flipped
                                                        Am 
and if the chance the cursory glance youd call it non descript 
                                                                G
but i double took i stopped to look and its just one of those things 
                                                                Am
i do when at a loss i reached across and lightly brushed the strings


C                                       G               Am
the sound both deep and ancient came up from the hole beneath
C                                       G               Am
the kind that comes from timber given in to times bequethed
C                               G               Am
enough for me to wonder i put up my hand to hale
C                               Em              Am
the vendor of the table just to ask... if its for sale


[Break]

Am                                                      G
well he had a chin with whiskers in and in between his lips
                                                Am 
he held a cigarette he hadnt lit i took him for a gypsy
                                                G 
he stooped and bent and complimented me on my selection
                                                Am 
to my surprise within his eyes i saw my own reflection

C                               G               Am
i dont him im not buying im just interested to know
C                                       G               Am
so i thought how love or lack thereof matched my fiscal flow
C                                       G       Am
he asked me for my name and when he handed it to me
C                                 Em            Am
he said it undignified to talk of money... before history


[Break]

and then he said....

Am                                                      G
if you hold it right up to the light in pencil can be seen
                                            Am
the signature of the luthier and the date 1918
                                                G
but sir have you got the certificate of authenticity
                                                                Am
he said whats the point when you can get the story straight from me

Am                                                      G
a russian commander first saw it in a shop window in munich
                                                                Am
he was on a stroll and felt the roll of deutchmarks in his tunic
                                                G
he bought it on a whim and to his friend the commisar
                                                        Am
said if i survive this war alive ill learn to play guitar
C                       G                    Am
he had one final 7 week assignment with his unit
G                                                               Am
and im sad to say he was blown away before he learned to tune it


[Break]

Am                                                              G
it was sent back to his greiving widow with the rest of his effects
                                                                Am
and it languished there under the stair right where the dust collects
                                                                G
but there came a day when she passed away as well and without kin
                                                                    Am
so through her stash and it was labelled trash and put out with the bin

C                                       G       Am
it was only sitting on that lonely street in Leningrad
C                                       G               Am
for an hour or two before being rescued up by a young lad
                                                        G
he was on the hop afraid to stop for long for fear of prison
                                                Am
a balchevik who had been made awefully sick by communism

C                                   G           Am      
he was disenchanted by the practice of the party scheme
C                                         G        Am
how it proved all men are equal seemed to be a tad extreme
C                                               G       Am
he walked down by the baltic sea and there he hopped a freigter
C                                 Em                        Am
and not a word was heard from him again... until many years later


[Break]

Am                                                                      G
the old man stopped to rest and get his breath and his eyes they started glazing
                                                Am
over i told him this story was both trajic and amazing
                                                        G
oh dont stop now i must know how this ends and please be quick
                                                Am
do you know whht became of this mutanous balchevik?


[Break]

                                                                G
well the old gyspy looked back at me and his eyes they seemed to clear
                                                Am
he said in 34 he went ashore in the city of Tangier
                                                        G
but he came undone as hed become from all those years at sea
                                                Am
addicted to, as sailors do, port wine and gin rummy
C                               G               Am
and one night in a game in a cafe near the medina
C                                       G               Am
as the hour grew ever late the balchies kitty it grew leaner
C                                       G               Am
and when his francs were gone he prayed upon the evening star
C                                                 Em                Am
they took the coat that he was wearing, watch and ring....and that guitar


[Break]

Am                                                  G
it was won by a german banker who liked it all just fine
                                                Am
who'd grown soft with drinking thinking of his frauline
                                                                G
while still abroad he'd learned some chords and in a few months later
                                                Am
when hes again back in berlin hed sit and serenade her
C                                  G                    Am
he was held back in Morocco by the start of World War II
C                                               G               Am
and he learnt she'd met a young cadet and the two of them shot through
Am                                                      G
he cursed and spat and vowed that as long as she still lingered 
                                                        Am
he'd much rather than play guitar, cut off all his fingers


[Break]

Am                                                      G
well i felt sorry for this banker but it just didnt align
                                Am
if its 34 didnt the war begin in 39?
                                                G
Pedant! he cried, would you deny me a single concession
                                                Am
just let me tell you how this thing came into my possession.
                                                        G
i bought it from a local pedler, who bought it from a priest
                                                        Am
who drove his congregation mad with it to say the least
                                                          G
he'd picked it up for next to nothing browsing at a parish fete
                                        Am
donated out of charity from a deceased estate


[Accel]

                                                G
of a lovely music teacher who played it for her pupils
                                                        Am
who'd earlier procured it from a man with dubious scrupols
                                                          G
who'd pinched it from a folk rock busker somewhere in the town
                                                            Am
who'd been playing in Alexanderplatz the night the wall came down

                                                        G
he got it cheaply off a man who run a music store for cash
                                                Am
who swapped it from a trader with a handlebar moustache
                                                G
who found it in a paper where it had been advertised
                                                        Am
by the son of that German banker who's old girlfriend he despised
                                                                G
you'd think any normal person would have just gone out and sold it
                                                Am
but he kept it as a token of the time he was cuckolded
                                                        G
he hid it in his attick and it survived the war up there
                                                Am
for 30 years until his son went looking for a chair
                                                        G
his dad refused to talk of it until he turned up his toes
                                                  Am
but now its found its way to you just give me 400 Euros.




Am                                                              G
The blood drained right out of the gypsy's face til it was ashen
                                                Am
he seemed to be completely overcome by his own passion
                                                        G
i couldnt bare to think this was elaborate salesman patter
                                                        Am
but like i said i had no bread so it really didnt matter
                                                        G
the story clanged and banged around my head for the whole day
                                                  Am
in spite of all the other things i saw it wouldnt stray
C                               G               Am
before i even knew it i found myself later on
C                                  Em                   Am
rushing back to the gypsy but the guitar.... and he were gone


[Break]

Am                                                        G
ive learnt that what you dont buy today may not be there tomorrow
                                                                Am
and you are never strictly poor if youve a friend from which to borrow
                                                        G
i thought the old gypsy knew this before he ever saw me
                                                Am
because when i went Sunday, he was waiting for me
C                                           G           Am
Ive one more thing to sing my friends, if i may be so bold,
C                                  G               Am
the guitar of which i sing, is the one which i now hold
Am                                                              G
and to think of love, and the fullness of, is something i get from it
                                                                Am
and this song i sing wont mean a thing unless its played upon it.