This tab is 100% correct. I pulled it from the original songbook of "Verities &
published in 1974. It tooks me two years to find this book, and I bought it just for this song.
luck!
CHORDS USED
x02010
xx0212
x32010
G 3x0003 (or just regular G 320033)
3x0211
022000
"I WANNA LEARN A LOVE SONG" - Verities & Balderdash
Words and Music by HARRY CHAPIN
VERSE 1
I come fresh from the street,
fast on my feet, kinda lean and lazy;
not much meat on my bones, and a whole lot alone,
and more than a little bit crazy.
The old six string was all I had
to keep my belly still,
and for each full hour lesson I gave
I got a crisp ten dollar bill.
VERSE 2
She was married for seven years
to a concrete castle king.
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
and to hear her children sing.
So I'd show up about once a week
in my faded tight-legged jeans
with a backlog full of hobo stories
and dilapidated dreams.
CHORUS
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."
(The rest of the song is played in the same pattern. VERSE 3 has the same chords as
1, VERSE 4 and VERSE 5 have the same chords as VERSE 2, and the CHORUS chords are all the same.)
VERSE 3
So I tried to teach her a couple of chords
and an easy melody;
but it always turned out she'd rather listen
to my guitar and me.
I could hear her old man laughing in the den,
playing stud poker with the boys
while I sang so soft in the living room,
to scared to make much noise.
VERSE 4
I came one week and the den was dark
and she met me at the door.
And we sat on the couch and we sang and talked
till I could not sing no more.
The silence kept on building,
her eyes grew much too wide;
and I could her both of our heartbeats,
but there was no place to hide.
CHORUS
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."
VERSE 5
Well, I guess you know what happened,
God, I never been so clean.
Yes, I feel like I'm working in a Hollywood movie
or living out a good bad dream.
And all them pinup girls in that tinsel world
never touched me like she can;
it took another man's wife in the real world life
to make this boy a man.
CHORUS
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."
(let ring out)
I guess you know I stayed.