I heard this acoustic version aon a radio sshow in Denver...1999 or so..Mike plays a 
nice boom-chuck" fast strum a la The Man In Black...I play it "G-C-D-Em" but it can be 
played in the Key of E as well...


Capo 1st Fret (or not)

Verse 1

 G5        C5          G5
I'm young and I'm strong

G5              D5              C5           G5
I've got this God forsaken world by the balls

 G5          D5         C5          G5
I've got a one way ticket to freedom

G5                  D5                  G5
Ain't no one now, gonna take it from me


Verse 2

I was a soldier, age twenty-one
In a war, not sure what I was fighting for
And yet I turned from a boy to a man there
Goodbye to innocence and a sweet sixteen


Chorus:

(Walk to E5 from G5 )

E5         C5       G5          D5
My whole life I could not arrange

E5         C5       G5          D5
My wicked ways I could never change

G5                 E5      D5         G5
Don't try, don't try now to understand

 G5                      D5           G5
For this is the ballad of a lonely man


Verse 3

Close to me is a photograph
Of a family left far, far behind
Once I had A love, it slipped away from
I searched a lifetime, but could not find

Chorus

Bridge: Walkdown to 
E5 - C5 - G5 - D5 - E5 - C5 - G5 - D5 (You're basically playing the chorus without singing

Final Verse

In a hospital bed, I'm violently ill,
Just one more drink nurse I swear to god.
I've got my St. Anthony and my whiskey,
Yes I'm a veteran of three foreign wars.