This one suddenly came to me while playing some Dire Straits...
The original is on piano, but this is nice to play on an acoustic as a
solo folk song (the last verse can be played with some distortion to go
with the tone of the lyrics). I've tabbed this out in the key of G because
I naturally sing low and it's how I remember the song, but feel free to
transpose it to A if you can sing like Don. If so, then play as follows:
becomes
becomes
becomes
becomes
becomes
That's it! Here's the song. Apparently, this was inspired by Don's
grandfather and his experiences farming. Think of it as a soft-rock
counterpoint to "Foreclosure of a Dream" :-)
G (can play C here, but not necessary)
I used to work for Harvester,
I used to use my hands,
I used to build the tractors and the combines,
that plowed and harvested this great land...
Now I see my handiwork on the block
Everywhere I turn,
And I see the clouds cross the weathered faces,
And I watched the harvest burn...
That's essentially it, as all the verses can be played with the same basic
progression
( / / followed by / / / / / / and end on )
At the end (after "I don't see next year's crop"), return to the second
progression:
And I sit here in my back porch in the twilight,
And I hear the crickets hum...
Sit and watch the lightning in the distance,
but the showers never come...
I sit here and listen to the wind blow,
I sit here and rub my hands,
I sit here and listen to the clock strike,
(end on )
And wonder when I'll see my com-panion again..
That's about it. Economically and politically a bit dated, I guess, but
still packs a punch musically.
- .