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When Shes Gone

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. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#


WHEN SHE'S GONE (Mary-Chapin Carpenter)
---------------------------------------
[Actually in F; capo 5.]
[The lines that are just F and C actually have some F(9)'s and C(9)'s in
 them; that's all spelled out at the end.]

F                       C
  She threw her purse upon the bed
F                         C
  She looked around and shook her head
F                         C
  There's really nothing left, she said
G                          C
  There's nothing I ain't done
F                          C
  She wore your favorite dress tonight
F                           C
  She hoped her hair would catch the light
F                       C
  And you just sat there gettin' tight
G                     C
  On double shots of rum

Am                    F
  You don't care what people say
G                      C
  They're gonna say it anyway
Am                    F
  You don't hear what you can't use
G                       C
  It's always been the same old news
Am                   F
  You don't beg and you don't plead
G                      C
  Or miss a thing that you don't need
F                 C
  She knew by the way you kissed her
G                  C
  When she's gone, you won't miss her

F    C     F    C     F    C     G    C
[instrumental]

Morning comes on an old cat's paws
And when the sun hits the walls
The light's as bright as it ever was
After or before
And you wince as waking pounds your head
And you drag your arm across the bed
And the tangled sheets and the twisted spread
Fall onto the floor

And the kitchen table finds you silent
If you had a thought, now you can't find it
You take a long drag on your smoke
And taste your coffee growing cold
She didn't beg and you didn't plead
She knew exactly how to leave
The way she knew when you kissed her
When she's gone, you won't miss her

She didn't beg and you didn't plead
She knew exactly when to leave
The way she knew as you kissed her
When she's gone, you won't miss her

F    C     F    C     F    C     G    C
[Instrumental; repeat and fade]


   Here's the strumming pattern for most of the song.  The funny-looking
lines are musical notes.  The numbers above the notes are just the relative
durations, for the benefit of the notationally impaired.
   The first chord of each line is actually just a single note, or perhaps
just the two or three lowest strings.  The last C(9) in the first two lines
is only played sometimes; other times, it's just an eighth note at the end
of the measure, and other times there's _no_ chord after the C*.

   F: x33211 or 133211 (fret the E string with your thumb)
   F(9): x33011 or 133011 (fret the E string with your thumb)
   C(9): 330010
   C*: hammer-on (quickly) from 330010 to 332010
   C: 332010
   G: 320003
   Am: x02210


 2     1  1  1  1      2           3           3           2
 |     +--+--+--+      |           |           |           |
 |     |  |  |  |      |           |           |           |
/     /  /  /  /      /           / .         / .         /
F     F  F  F  F(9)  F(9)        C(9)         C*         C(9)

 2     1  1  1  1      2           3           3           2
 |     +--+--+--+      |           |           |           |
 |     |  |  |  |      |           |           |           |
/     /  /  /  /      /           / .         / .         /
F     F  F  F  F(9)  F(9)        C(9)         C*         C(9)

 2     1  1  1  1      2           3           3           2
 |     +--+--+--+      |           |           |           |
 |     |  |  |  |      |           |           |           |
/     /  /  /  /      /           / .         / .         /
F     F  F  F  F(9)  F(9)        C(9)         C*         C(9)

 2     1  1    2       2           3           2       1  1  1
 |     +--+    |       |           |           |       +--+--+
 |     |  |    |       |           |           |       |  |  |
/     /  /    /       /           / .         /       /  /  /
G     G  G    G       G           C           C       C  C  C

For the other parts (e.g., the Am F G C part), it's never very complex;
mostly just like this:

 2     1  1    2     1  1
 |     +--+    |     +--+
 |     |  |    |     |  |
/     /  /    /     /  /

- Adam Schneider, schneider@pobox.com