+
-

This Shirt

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Text File

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#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. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#


THIS SHIRT (Mary-Chapin Carpenter)
----------------------------------

[Capo 5; each chord is one measure]
[C=x32010; C(4)=x33010; C(9)/B=x20010; Am=x02210; Am/G=3x2210;
 Fmaj9=1x3010; G6=3x0000; Em=0x2000; C/G=3x2010; D9/F#=2x0210.]

C  C(4)  C  C(9)/B    C  C(4)  C  C(9)/B
[intro]

C                C(4)         C                C(9)/B
  This shirt is old and faded, all the color's washed away
C              C(4)                C             C(9)/B
  I've had it more damn years than I can count anyway
Am              Am/G          Fmaj9             G6
  I wear it beneath my jacket, with the collar turned up high
Am            Am/G           Fmaj9    G6             C  C(4)  C  C(9)/B
  So old I should replace it, but I'm not about to try

This shirt's got silver buttons, and a place upon the sleeve
Where I used to set my heart up right there where anyone could see
This shirt is the one I wore to every boring high school dance
Where the boys ignored the girls and we all pretended to like the band

Em                 Fmaj9          C                 G6
  This shirt was a pillow for my head on a train through Italy
Em                 Fmaj9                C              G6
  This shirt was a blanket beneath the love we made in Argeles
Em               Fmaj9                  C             G6
  This shirt was lost for three whole days in a town near Buffalo
Am                 C/G             D9/F#      G6            C  C(4)  C  C(9)/B
  Till I found the locker key in a downtown Trailways bus depot

This shirt is the one I lent you, and when you gave it back
It had a rip inside the sleeve where you rolled your cigarettes
It was the place I put my heart, now look at where you put a tear
I forgave your thoughtlessness, but not the boy who put it there

This shirt was the place your cat decided to give birth to five
And we stayed up all night watching, and we wept when the last one died
This shirt is just an old faded piece of cotton
Shining like memories inside those silver buttons

This shirt is a grand old relic with a grand old history
I wear it now for Sunday chores, cleaning house and raking leaves
I wear it beneath my jacket with the collar turned up high
So old I should replace it, but I'm not about to try

C  C(4)  C  C(9)/B
[repeat and fade]

TAB:

[Note that this tablature is just four-measure-long PIECES of tab
 that you string together to play the whole song.]
[All the chords have the same picking pattern with the thumb playing
 an alternating bass line.]


  C                C(4)             C                C(9)/B
E ------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|
B ----------1-----|----------1-----|----------1-----|----------1-----|
G --0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|
D ----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----2-------2---|----0-------0---|
A 3-------3-------|3-------3-------|3-------3-------|2-------2-------|
E ----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .
  (This shirt is old and faded, all the colors washed away...)


  Am               Am/G             Fmaj9            G6
E ------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|
B ----------1-----|----------1-----|----------1-----|----------0-----|
G --2-----------2-|--2-----------2-|--0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|
D ----2-------2---|----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----0-------0---|
A 0-------0-------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E ----------------|3-------3-------|1-------1-------|3-------3-------|
  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .
  (I wear it beneath my jacket, with the collar turned up high...)


  Em               Fmaj9            C                G6
E ------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|
B ----------0-----|----------1-----|----------1-----|----------0-----|
G --0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|--0-----------0-|
D ----2-------2---|----3-------3---|----2-------2---|----0-------0---|
A ----------------|----------------|3-------3-------|----------------|
E 0-------0-------|1-------1-------|----------------|3-------3-------|
  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .
  (This shirt was a pillow for my head on a train through Italy...)


  Am               C/G              D9/F#            G6
E ------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|------0---------|
B ----------1-----|----------1-----|----------1-----|----------0-----|
G --2-----------2-|--0-----------0-|--2-----------2-|--0-----------0-|
D ----2-------2---|----2-------2---|----0-------0---|----0-------0---|
A 0-------0-------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E ----------------|3-------3-------|2-------2-------|3-------3-------|
  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . . ^ . ^ .
  (Till I found the locker key in a downtown Trailways bus depot...)


- Adam Schneider, schneider@pobox.com