These are the basic chords. John kind of walks up and down between them as he
plays. He also does a little baseline riff on the E and A string before the chorus
that I did not include, but this is the basic version. Great lyrics and a real fun
song to play! Enjoy.
Intro: G chord structure variation. Play regular G, use 1st finger on the high e
string 2nd fret, then strum with e and b string open, then finish with pinky on b
string 3rd fret. Mess with it, you'll hear it when it's right.
Verse 1
G D7 Em
Let's go out tonight like it is last year, like everything's alright and it
C Am C
is late last year, we'll walk around this planet till we're home, we'll both
D7 G D7 Em
get old, Let's go out to the ball and see em all dressed up, I'll tell you
C Am
that you're pretty,we'll get all messed up, we'll talk about the future,
C D7
we'll call ourselves the future and we'll mean it.
G D7
It's been a restless several years, full of ignorance and fears, I think
Em C
it's time for you to go,I think it's over and you know, you had a nice
Am C
impressive run, you had your way,you had your fun, I wasted hours with your
D7 G D7
tongue. It's like I never learned to love, no one ever walked me through
Em C
it, no one taught me how to do it,no one told me that it's real, and it's
Am C D7
not enough to feel, it's not enough to promise, it's not enough to try
Chorus
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/m/misc_unsigned_bands/john_elliott_concerning_the_lincoln_and_douglas_debates_crd.html ]
D C D C Em
I know I'm not the only one, I just can't be the only one,
D C Em D G (variation like Intro)
I know I'm not the only one who knows.
(The same chords progression throughout. Listen to song to pick up on the strumming rhythm.)
Verse 2
I been looking up my future on the world wide web, looking up my history on the
world wide web, I read the transcripts of the Lincoln & Douglas Debates, It's like
all of the sudden there were Germans. Acres and acres of Germans. Hilarious
Germans, their english was pretty good! They came into this country, the spread it
with disease, they killed too many trees, maybe everyone agrees, you can't win
when you're old, you can't win when you're angry, you can't do everything you're
told. It's not a sign from above, it's not from anyone you love, it's not a bird
it's not a car, it's not afraid of what you are, it's not a place it's not a
plane, it's not a God, it's not a name, don't waste your money or your time.
Chorus
Verse 3
But you see there's no one left for you to turn to now, and you know there's
someone new you better learn from now, your mothers too afraid...your fathers not
alive anymore. I want it to be perfect, I want it to be right, I wanna fall in
love and its gotta be tonight. I dont care if its you, I don't care if it's her, I
don't care if it's both of you. It must be hard to be a mormon, I know they get a
lotta shit. I've thought a lot about it and i think we should admit...it'd be nice
to have 5 wives, it'd be nice to have 5 husbands, it'd be nice to live in Utah.
But you don't wanna fight, cause you don't wanna loose, and I don't have a choice,
so I don't wanna choose and I came to let you know, I came to let you go, I came
to tell you so. So let's go out tonight like it is last year, like it's winter
your nervous and it's late last year. I'll kiss you on the ferris wheel, I'll hold
you out over the ocean.
Baseline bridge using 5th and 6th string. (Listen to song or just skip it.) In the
middle of April, I was willing and able. I was under the table, in over my head, I
could never remember, if it was early December or later November when it started again.
Chorus.
Check out more of John Elliott and his band The Hereafter at www.thehereafterishere.com
