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Date: 11/13/97; 10:50:15 PM
From: "James" <Guitar_Picker@rednecks.com>
Subject: CRD: It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go - Nanci Griffith

Words and music: Nanci Griffith
>From the album "Storms"

Itâs a Hard Life Wherever You Go

I am a back[D]seat [C] driver from A[G][merica
We [D] drive to the [C] left on Fordâs [G] road.
And the [D] man at the [C] wheelâs name is [G] Shamus
We pass a [D] child on the [C] corner he [G] knows
And [D] Shamus says, ãNow [C] what chance has [G] that kid got?ä
And I [D] say from the [C] back, ãI donât [G] knowä
He says, ãThereâs [D] barbed wire at [C] all of these [G] exits
And there ainât [D] no place in [C] Belfast for that [G] kid to goä

Chorus:
Yes itâs a [C] hard life, itâs a hard [G/B] life, itâs a [C] very hard [G]
life
Itâs a [D] hard life wher[C]ever you [G] go
And if we [D] poison our [C] children with [G] hatred
Then a [D] hard life is [C] all that theyâll [G] know
And there ainât [D] no place in [C] Belfast for that [G] kid to go [D] [C]
[G]

Cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
But heâs the only trash here I see
And Iâm thinking, this man wears a white hood
In the night when his children should sleep
But theyâll slip to their windows and theyâll see him
And theyâll think white hoods are all that they need

Chorus 2:
Yes itâs a hard life, itâs a hard life, itâs a very hard life
Itâs a hard life wherever you go
And if we poison our children with hatred
Then a hard life is all that theyâll know
And there ainât no place in Chicago for those kids to go
I was a child in the sixties
When dreams could be had through TV
With Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther
And I believed, I believed, I believed
Now Iâm a backseat driver from America
And Iâm not at the wheel of control
And I am guilty, I am war, and I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I canât drive on the left side of the road

Chorus 3:
Yes itâs a hard life, itâs a hard life, itâs a very hard life
Itâs a hard life wherever you go
And if we poison our children with hatred
Then a hard life is all that theyâll know
And there ainât no place in this world for these kids to go


Keep on strummin'
James
Editor
The Gospel Music Archive
http://subnet.virtual-pc.com/da567664