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
Am7      x02010
D7       xx0212
C        x32010
G        3x0003 (or just regular G 320033)
Dm7/G    3x0211
Em       022000


"I WANNA LEARN A LOVE SONG" - Verities & Balderdash
Words and Music by HARRY CHAPIN

VERSE 1
       Am7
I come fresh from the street,
D7               C     Am7      G
fast on my feet, kinda lean and lazy;
         Am7                     D7
not much meat on my bones, and a whole lot alone,
    C           Am7        G
and more than a little bit crazy.
    Dm7/G              C
The old six string was all I had
   Am7                Em
to keep my belly still,
        Am7            D7
and for each full hour lesson I gave
        C         Am7        G
I got a crisp ten dollar bill.

VERSE 2
Am7                 D7
She was married for seven years
     C        Am7    G
to a concrete castle king.
             Am7                D7
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
       C        Am7      G
and to hear her children sing.
   Dm7/G             C
So I'd show up about once a week
      Am7                Em
in my faded tight-legged jeans
       Am7             D7
with a backlog full of hobo stories
      C
and dilapidated dreams.

CHORUS
         G                          Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
         D                                      C
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
            G                       Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
            D                          C       Am7  G
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
         G                          Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
         D                                      C
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
            G                       Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
            D                          C       Am7  G
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
         G                          Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
         D                                      C
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
            G                       Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
            D                          C       Am7  G
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."
  C         Am7     G        C   Am7   
(let ring out)
I guess you know I stayed.