Jeffrey Lewis - Back When I Was 4 Chords & Tabs

This is Back When I Was 4 by Jeffrey Lewis




D               A         G                    D
Back when I was 4 and I knew the name of every dinosaur 
                             A
I knew how to read ROM comic books 
              G                 D
My babysitter said I was really smart 
                             A
When the lights went out everything changed
    G                        D
The radio music made me feel strange 
                     A              G                   D
And I had a real bad dream about a gorilla in the bathroom 



DAG(the same as in 1st verse)

Back when I was 6 I took everything real serious 
And I thought that every song that came on the radio 
Was referring to strange sexual acts 
Because they thought I wouldn't know the facts 
And being small is hard and no one ever tells you how 



A                         G
And back when I was 8 I'd sit outside on an old milk crate 
      A                              G
And look out at the world from the stoop across the street 
     A 
The boomboxes and the hot concrete 
      G
And every Halloween they hung
     A                       G
A million rubber skeletons across ninth street. 


DAG

Back when I was 12 or so I swear to god I never felt so low 
Everyone but me was making out and eating cookies 
I had more than my brain could stand 
I threw my life in a garbage can 
I felt so weird 
I had to disappear 
In crying suicide disease. 


DAG

At 15 getting stoned felt good and it sent me back to childhood 
And nothing ever mattered to me more than that. 

But then 16 became eclipse 
My brain became apocalypse 
I was lost and found and I've never been the same. 

AG(the same as in 3rd verse)

Back when I was 22 I left the best thing that I knew 
and I gave it up for fortune and for fame 
I played like I didn't know how 
I shocked the world 
I wowed the crowd 
But I deserved more than what they gave 


DAG
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/j/jeffrey_lewis/back_when_i_was_4_crd.html ]
Back when I was 27 still nothing had been forgiven 
Clay turns into rock and rock just sits 
So sitting on a crowded beach 
I'd pretend I was a leach 
And stick to things here and there for a little bit 


DAG

Back when I was 31 I knew I'd become what I'd become 
Nothing left to reveal 
And nowhere else to turn 
So shocked and withered dumb and bitter 
And in need of a babysitter 
I'd gladly let my hand fall off and burn burn burn 


AG

Back when I turned the big 4-0 I realized just how much there was to go 
And I started to think that being alone forever 
Wasn't where it was at 
So I pulled my head out of the window 
And I taught myself how to love real fast 
I started talking about painting 
With a woman in the laundromat 


DAG

Back when I was 50 and my first wife had just left me 
I felt okay and I sang my daughter 
Funny little songs 
And just when I thought the best was past 
I fell in love for real at last 
And it didn't even matter that it had taken me so long 


DAG

Back when I was 63 the public rediscovered me 
My comic books and records had all become rare cult-collector items 
Both my parents were deceased 
So they didn't see my records get re-released 
And I got a dog for the first time in my life 


AG

Back when I was 74 my dog died and I got two more 
I still felt really good about my daughter 
And also about my girlfriend 
And I'd sing and draw a little bit 
But mostly I'd wake up early and sit 
And hang out with the puppies and wish that I could live forever 


DAG

Back when I was 87 my grandson had just turned eleven 
My woman was dead 
And my dogs were getting pretty old 
My body didn't work quite like it should 
But overall things were pretty good 
I was getting decent royalties from the reissued comic books and records 



DAG

Back when I was 106 
My only friend 
Was one goldfish 
Everyone I ever knew was dead and gone 
The goldfish never had a name 
And the neighbors thought I was insane 
And I flushed it down the toilet when I saw it floating upside down 


AG

Back when I was 128 I would sit outside on an old milk crate 
And look out at the world from the stoop across the street 
The boomboxes and the hot concrete 
And every Halloween they hung 
A million rubber skeletons across 9th street 
Every Halloween they hung 
A million rubber skeletons 
Every Halloween they hung 
A million rubber skeletons 
Every Halloween they hung 
A million rubber skeletons