Better Place to Be Harry Chapin
It was an e[D]arly morning ba[Dmaj7]rroom
And the pla[D7]ce had just opened [Gmaj7]up
And a l[Em]ittle man came [Em/D#]in so fast
And h[Em/D]e started at his cups[A7]
And the br[D]oad who served the wh[Dmaj7]iskey
She was a [D7]big old friendly [Gmaj7]girl
Who t[Em]ried to fight her e[Em/D#]mpty nights
By[Em/D] smiling at the world[A7]
And she [G]said "Hey, bub, it's b[A]een a while
[F#m]Since you've been around [B7]
Where the [Em]hell you been hidi[A]ng
And w[G]hy you look so down[D]
Well, the [G]little man s[A]at there
Like he'd ne[G]ver he[A]ard a sound[D]
The w[Cm]aitress she gave out[G] with a cough
And [Bb]acting not the least[F] put off she spoke[Em] once ag[A]ain
She said [D]"I don't want to both[G]er you
Con[Em/G]sider it's understood[Em] [-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
I [A/C#]know I'm not no [Em]bea[-]ut[Em/D#]y quee[-]n[Em/D]
But I [A/C#]sure c[Em]an l[A7sus4]isten good[D]
And the [G]little man
Took his [A]drink in his hand
And he r[Em]aised it to his lips[D]
He [G]took a couple sips [D]
And then he [Em7]told the wait[A]ress this s[D]tory
I [D]am the midnight watchm[Am]an down at [C]Miller's [G]Tool and Die[D]
And I watch[G] the metal rus[F#m]ting, I [Bm]watch the time go by[Cmaj7]
A [A]week ago at the din[G]er I [F#m]stopped to get a bite[B7]
And t[Em]his here lovely la[A]dy she sat [G]two seat[Em7]s from[A11] my [D]right
And [G]Lord, [G/F#]lord, [Em7]lord, (L[G]ord, L[G/F#]ord, L[Em7]ord) s[D]he was alright
Yo[D]u see she was so damn [Am]beautiful that she could wa[C]rm a wi[G]nters fro[D]st
But s[G]he looked long past l[F#m]onely and w[Bm]ell nigh onto [Cmaj7]lost
Now I[A]'m not much of a mo[G]ver or a pi[F#m]ck'em up easy [B7]guy
But I de[Em]cided to glide on ov[A]er and give h[G]er [Em7]one good t[D]ry
And [G]Lord, [G/F#]lord, [Em7]lord, (L[G]ord, L[G/F#]ord, L[Em7]ord) s[D]he was worth a try
We[D]ll I was tongue tied like a sch[Am]oolboy, I stam[C]mered o[G]ut some wo[D]rds
It did n[G]ot seem to m[F#m]atter much 'cause [Bm]I don't think she [Cmaj7]heard
She ju[A]st looked clear on thr[G]ough me to a s[F#m]pace back in my h[B7]ead
It sh[Em]amed me into sil[A]ence as qui[G]etly [Em7]she s[D]aid
If you w[D]ant me to come w[G]ith you
Then t[Em/G]hat's all right with [Em]me[-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
'Cause I [A/C#]know I'm going [Em]no-[-]wh[Em/D#]ere [-] [Em/D]
And a[A/C#]nywhere's a [Em]better [A7sus4]place to [D]be
[D] [-] [G] [-] [G/F#] [-] [Em] [-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
[A] [-] [Em] [-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
[A]
[A/C#]Anywheres a [Em]better pl[A7sus4]ace to [D]be
Well, I [D]drove her to my boa[Dmaj7]rding house
And I [D7]took her up to my room[Gmaj7]
And I [Em]went to turn on the [Em/D#]only light
[Em/D]To brighten up the gloom[A7]
But she [Dm]said, "Please leave the light off,
Oh, [Gm]I don't mind the dark"
And as her cl[F]othes all tumbled 'round her
[Asus4]I could hear my [A]heart [Asus4] [-] [A] [-] [Asus4] [-] [A]
The [D]moonlight shone u[Am]pon her as she l[C]ay back [G]in my b[D]ed
It was the [G]kind of scene I [F#m]only had ima[Bm]gined in my [Cmaj7]head
I [A]just could not [G]believe it to [F#m]think that she was r[B7]eal
And a[Em]s I tried to t[A]ell her, she said "Sss[G]sh, I kn[Em7]ow just how you f[D]eel
And if you [D]want to come here [G]with me
Then [Em/G]that's all right with [Em]me[-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
Cause [A/C#]I've been so lon[Em]ely[-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
Lovin' s[A/C#]omeone is a b[Em]etter wa[A7sus4]y to be[D]
[D] [-] [G] [-] [G/F#] [-] [Em] [-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
[A] [-] [Em] [-] [Em/D#] [-] [Em/D]
[A]
[A/C#]Anywhere's a [Em]better [A7sus4]place to [D]be
Well the [D]mornin' came so [Am]swiftly I [C]held her [G]in my a[D]rms
And s[G]he slept like a [F#m]baby, [Bm]snug and safe from [Cmaj7]harm
I [A]did not want to sh[G]are her or [F#m]dare to break the m[B7]ood
So bef[Em]ore she woke I [A]went out to [G]buy us both some f[Dm]ood
I c[Dm]ame back with my paper bag to [Gm]find that she was gone
She'd [F]left a six-word letter sayin' "It's t[Gm]ime that I moved [D]on"
You know the [D]waitress she took her ba[Dmaj7]r rag and she wi[D7]ped it across her eye[Gmaj7]s
And [Em]as she spoke her [Em/D#]voice came out as[Em/D] something like a sigh[A7]
She said I w[D]ish that I was [Dmaj7]beautiful or that y[D7]ou were halfway b[Gmaj7]lind
And [Em]I wish I weren't so G[Em/D#]od-damned fat, [Em/D]I wish that you were mi[A7]ne
[A7]And I wish [G]that you'd come wi[A]th me [F#m]when I leave for home[B7]
For we [Em]both know all 'bout emp[A]tiness and [G]livin' [Em]all alone [D]
And the [Em7]little man looked at the [F#m]empty glass in his hand and he smi[Em7]led a crooked grin[D]
He said "I[Em7] guess I'm out of g[D]in and I kno[Em7]w we both have [D/F#]been so [G]lo[-]ne[Em7]ly[-] [A]
And if you w[D]ant me to come [G]with you then that's alright with [Em]me
'Cause I [A]know I'm going [Em]no-where and [A]anywhere's a[Em7] better [A7]place to [D]be[Dmaj7] [-] [Gmaj7] [-] [D]
Important: The song above is NOT stored on the Chordie server. The original song is hosted at www.guitaretab.com. Chordie works as a search engine and provides on-the-fly formatting. Chordie does not index songs against artists'/composers' will. To remove this song please click here.
