"Worried Shoes"
Daniel Johnston - Yip/Jump Music (1983)
Tabbed by Dylan Williams
Send questions or comments to dilenamountoo@hotmail.com

The tab that currently exists for this song makes shameless use of a
pointless and infuriating B shape, a chord which I LOATHE for its
awkwardness. Considering the basic progression is really quite common ("Let
it Be", "Don't Stop Believing", etc.), the use of this shape is simply not
necessary, even for those who want to play this song in its original key of
B. I find a change of tuning makes this song far simpler to play.

So, tuning is a half step down, or, from top string down:

Eb G# C# F# Bb Eb

Obviously, there is no capo. Chord shapes listed are still relative, however,
and here they are, followed by their actual chord names in parentheses:

C (B) --------- X32010
G (F#) -------- 320033 or 320003 (or my preference, which drops the high G 
note 3200XX)
Am (Abm) ------ X02210
F (E) --------- 133211 or X3321X

Thus:

C             G                Am
  I took my lucky break and I broke it in two
            F
Put on my worried shoes
G       C
  My worried shoes
                      G                       Am
And my shoes took me so many miles and they never wore out
      F
My worried shoes
G       C
  My worried shoes


F          C
  oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
F      C
  My worried shoes


I made a mistake and I never forgot
I tied knots in the laces of
My worried shoes
And with every step that I'd take I'd remember my mistake
As I marched further and further away
In my worried shoes

oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
My worried shoes

And my shoes took me down a crooked path
Away from all welcome mats
My worried shoes
And then one day I looked around and I found the sun shining down
And I took off my worried shoes
And the feet broke free
I didn't need to wear
My worried shoes

Then I knew the difference between worrying and caring
'Cause I've got a lot of walking to do
And I don't want to wear
My worried shoes



ALTERNATIVELY...

This version is far easier to play, but I didn't list it earlier because it
doesn't sound nearly as good as the above tab, especially the transition from
the C shape to the D shape, which is abrupt and jarring. Also, this version
sounds a little sharp due to the capo.

Tuning is standard, with a capo at the fourth fret.

Chord shapes, with actual chord names in parentheses:
G (B) -------- 320033
D (F#) ------- XX0232 (I prefer a D/f# shape, so 200232)
Em (G#m)------ 022000
C (E) -------- X32010


Thus:

G             D                Em
  I took my lucky break and I broke it in two
            C
Put on my worried shoes
D       G
  My worried shoes
                      D                       Em
And my shoes took me so many miles and they never wore out
      C
My worried shoes
D       G
  My worried shoes


C          G
  oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
C      G
  My worried shoes