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Mr Tanner

Harry Chapin

Text File

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#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the#
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research.#
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From: LTWU46B@prodigy.com (MR KEN L REYNOLDS)
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 22:21:49, -0500
Subject: c/chapin_harry/mr_tanner.pro

album: Short Stories
song: Mr. Tanner
artist: Harry Chapin
transcribed: Ken Reynolds

Enjoy the following selection.

Mister Tanner
Harry Chapin        (klr)

Mister [G] Tanner was a [G/f] cleaner from a [Em] town in the Mid
[G/d] west
And of [G] all the cleaning [G/f] shops around [Em] hed made his the
[D] best
But he [C] also was a [Bb] baritone who [Am7] sang while hanging [G]
clothes
He practiced scales while [G/f] pressing tails and [Em] sang at local
[D] shows
His [Em] friends and neighbors praised the voice that [D] poured out
from his throat
They [Em] said that he should use his gift in [D] stead of cleaning
coats

[G] But [Bm] music was his life, it was [Am7] not his livelihood
And it [Em] made him feel so happy and it [G/d] made him feel so
[D/c] good
And he [G/b] sang from his heart [C]  and he [G/d] sang from his [D]
soul
He [G] did not know how [C] well he sang, [G] it just [C] made him
[G] whole

His [G] friends kept working [G/f] on him to try [Em] music out full
[G/d] time
A [G] big debut and [G/f] rave reviews a [Em] great career to [D]
climb
[C] Finally they [Bb] got to him [Am7] he would take the fling [G]
A concert agent [G/f] in New York [Em] agreed to have him [D] sing
And there were [Em] plane tickets, phone calls, [D] money spent to
rent the hall
It [Em] took most of his savings but he [D] gladly used them all

[G] But [Bm] music was his life, it was [Am7] not his livelihood
And it [Em] made him feel so happy and it [G/d] made him feel so
[D/c] good
And he [G/b] sang from his heart [C]  and he [G/d] sang from his [D]
soul
He [G] did not know how [C] well he sang, [G] it just [C] made him
[G] whole

The [G] evening came he [G/f] took the stage his [Em] face set in a
[G/d] smile
And in the [G] half filled hall the [G/f] critics sat [Em] watching
on the [D] aisle
But the [C] concert was a [Bb] blur to him [Am7] spatters of applause
[G]
He did not know how [G/f] well he sang, he [Em] only heard the [D]
flaws
But the [Em] critics were concise, it [D] only took four lines
But [Em] no one could accuse them of [D] being overkind

(spoken) [G] Mr Martin Tanner, Baritone, of [G/f] Dayton Ohio
Made his Town Hall [Eb] debut last night.  He came well [G/d]
prepared
But unfortunately his presentation [C] was not up to contemporary
Professional [Bb] standards.  His voice lacks the [Abmaj7] range of
tonal color
Necessary to make it consistently [G] interesting
[C] Full time consideration of an [Bb] other endeavor might be in [G]
order
[G/f] - [Em] - [G/d] - [G] - [G/f] - [Em] - [G/D]

[G] He came back home to [G/f] Dayton and was [Em] questioned by his
friends [G]
Then he [G] smiled and just said [G/f] nothing and he [Em] never sang
[D] again
[C] Excepting very late [Bb] at night when the [Am] shop was dark and
[G] closed
He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the [D] clothes

[G] - [Bm] Music was his life, it was not [Am7] his livelihood
And it [Em] made him feel so happy, it [G] made him feel so [D] good
And he [G/b] sang from his [C] heart and he [G] sang from his [D]
soul
And he [G] did not know how [C] well he sang
[Bb] It just [Abmaj7] made him [G] whole

I have a wide variety of popular artist and
venues for audio tape trading.  Contact me at
< ltwu46B@prodigy.com > and I will e-mail
my list to you.

Ken Reynolds