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What Made America Famous

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: juggler@brown.edu (Danger Mouse)
Subject: harry_chapin/usafame.crd

What Made America Famous
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry Chapin

     E A D G B E
     - - - - - -
G    3 2 0 0 0 3
C      3 2 0 1 0
C/B    2 2 0 1 0
Am     0 2 2 1 0
D        0 2 3 2
C/G  3 3 2 0 1 0
F    1 3 3 2 1 1
Bb     1 3 3 3 1
A      0 2 2 2 0
B      2 4 4 4 2
N.C.

G                                 C     C/B
It was the town that made America famous
    Am                     D                G                               The churches full and the kids 
gone to hell
G
Six traffic lights, and seven cops
    C                        C  C/B
And all the streets kept clean
Am                       D                  C              G
The supermarket and the drug store and the bars all doin' well

G                                         C      C/B
Now they were the folks that made America famous
    Am              C                  D                  G
Our local fire department stocked with short-haired volunteers
G
And on Saturday night, while America boozes
    C                            C      C/B
The fire department showed dirty movies
    Am                     C/B    Am   C/G                      Am         C/G
The lawyer and the grocer seein' their dreams come to life on the movie screen
F                               D                    C
While the plumber hopes that he won't be seen, as he tries to hide his fears
                      G
And he wipes away his tears

    Bb                  A
But somethin's burinin' somewhere
     B       G
DOES ANYBODY CARE?

G                                  C      C/B
We were the kids that made America famous
    Am                                     D          G
The kind of kids that long since drove our parents to despair
G
We were lazy long-hairs droppin' out
C                           C   C/B
Lost, confused, and coppin' out
Am                    D
Convinced our futures were in doubt
C                 G
And tryin' not to care

G                                       C      C/B
We lived in the house that made America famous
         Am                 C                D               G
It was a run-down slum, the shame of all the decent folks in town
G
We're hippies and some welfare cases
C                   C           C/B
Crowded families of cold, black faces
Am                           C/B    Am
Cramped inside some cracked old boards
C/G                      Am     C/G
The best that we all could afford
F                          D                     C
But still too fine for the rich landlord to ever tear it down
G
And we could hear the sound

   Bb                A
Of somethin' burnin' somewhere
    B       G
IS ANYBODY THERE?

G                                       C      C/B
We all lived the life that made America famous
    Am                                D             G
Our cops would make a point to shadow us around our town
G                                          C                    C    C/B
And we love children put a swastika on the bright red firehouse door
Am           D             C            G
America, the beautiful, it makes a body proud

G                                         C      C/B
And then came the night that made America famous
       Am              C              D         G
Was it carelessness or someone's sick idea of a joke?
       G                                   C                C     C/B
In the tinder-box trap we hippies lived in someone struck a spark
   Am                         C/B   Am
At first I thought that I was dreamin'
C/G                         Am    C/G
Then I saw the first flames gleamin'
F                      D
And heard the sound of children screamin'
C                  G
Comin' through the smoke

    Bb                 A
And somethin's burnin' somewhere
     B       G
DOES ANYBODY CARE?

G                                     C      C/B
Oh, it was the fire that made America famous
    Am                                     D                   G
The sirens wailed and the firemen stumbled sleepin' from their homes
G
And when the plumber yelled, "C'mon, let's go!"
C                                     C     C/B
They saw what was burnin' and said, "Take it slow"
Am
"Let 'em sweat a little"
D
"They'll never know"
C
"And besides, we just cleaned the chrome"
N.C.                              G
Said the plumber, "Then I'm goin' alone"

G
Well he rolled on up in the fire truck
Am
And raised the ladder to the ledge
      C                    C/B                 Am                        D
While me and my girl and a couple of kids were clinging like bats to the edge
G
We staggered to salvation
C                     C  C/B
Collapsed on the street
    Am                     D
And I never thought that a fat man's face
      C            G
Would ever look so sweet

G                                               C      C/B
I shook his hand in the scene that made America famous
       Am                         D            G
And he smiled from the heart that made America great
             G                                               C                C    C/B
We spent the rest of that night in the home of this man that we'd never known before
     Am              D                    C               G
It's funny; when you get that close, it's kind of hard to hate

G                                               C     C/B
I went to sleep with the hope that made America famous
          Am                   C                   D                  G
I had the kind of a dream that maybe they're still trying to teach in school
G                                 C      C/B
O'  the America that made America famous
Am                               C/B    Am
And of the people who just might understand
C/G                Am     C/G
That how together, yes we can
F
Create a country better than
D
The one we have made of this land
F
We have the choice
F
To make each man
D
Who dares to dream
D
Reachin' out his hand
C                                           G
A prophet or just a crazy damn dreamer or a fraud
       C     G
Yes, a crazy fraud

    Bb                 A
and somethin's burnin' somewhere
B            G
DOES ANYBODY CARE?
           G
IS ANYBODY THERE?
           G
IS ANYBODY THERE?????
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