Dirty Pennies
Intro:
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B|---------------------------------------------------|
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G D/F# Em
In a small town where all knew all
C G D
Wandered a peasant lady nobody knew
G D/F# Em
But her only friend was a young boy
C G D
Brought her hot tea and leftover stew
G D/F# Em
In those burning wintry Decembers
C G D
He’d pick dirty pennies up off the cold street
G D/F# Em
And while his mother was out Christmas shopping,
Am D G
He’d say, “Come on in, warm your feet
G D Dsus4 (2x) C9 D Dsus4 (2x)
G D/F# Em
As long as you share with me stories.â€
C G D
So she spoke, “I’m a product of war.
G D/F# Em
My mother never knew who she could be
C G D
As my father lay drunk on the floor.â€
G D/F# Em
And she spoke of the cart that she wheeled
C G D
Had keys with no locks and guitars with no strings
G D/F# Em
And a puzzle that could never be finished
Am D G
This is my home, these broken things
G D/F# Em C
Ah, but the boy went on to be taught in the schools
G D/F# G/B C9
To not talk to strangers, and don’t feed the fools
G D/F# G/B C9
Grew older and further and of her, forgot
G D Bm C9
As she was forced to move from lot to lot to lot
G D/F# Em C
G D/F# G/B C9 (2x)
G D/F# Em
She said, “I guess it was much in his nature
C G D
To become an enforcer of law.
G D/F# Em
My old friend’s got a gun to protect me
C G D
From the rock-tossing drunks from the bars
G D/F# Em
Always seemed like the sort to help others
C G D
So I’ll find him while he’s on the beat
G D/F# Em
And say, remember me, I’m the old lady
Am D G
You’d give me pennies you’d find on the street.â€
G D/F# Em
When she found him, she saw not the young boy
C G D
Who dug for the roots of her junk
G D/F# Em Em
She came face to face with a stern, vacant soldier
C G D
Grinnin’ and spinnin’ a club
G D/F# Em
He said, “Don’t you know that you can’t be here?
C G D
You’ll hurt business, and scare away the kids.
G D/F# Em
Go wander around in some other town
Am D G
Get out or I’m taking you in.â€
G D/F# Em C
“But officer, I fondly remember you,
G D/F# G/B C9
Young boy who would give me the leftover stew
G D/F# G/B C9
And would take me inside to the warm fire coals.
G D G/B C9
Those hundreds of pennies bought me all these clothes.
G D/F# Em C
G D/F# G/B C9 (2x)
G D/F# Em
It’s against the law to peddle
C G D
It’s against the law to eat
G D/F# Em
It’s against the law to have nothing more
C G D
Than the shoes, full of holes, on your feet
G D/F# Em
And now they put bars across the park benches
C G D
So I guess it’s illegal to sleep.
G D/F# Em
They buried something inside of you, officer
Am D G
Into your cold heart, dig deep
G D/F# Em C
And you’ll see that it’s me
G D/F# G/B C9
And here I’ll be, nothing new to me.
G D/F# G/B C9
I’ll be heartbroken and cold, frozen and alone.
G D G/B C9
My coffin was a dumpster and they didn’t even know.â€
G D/F# Em C
But while out on the beat, he looked down to his feet,
G D/F# G/B C9
And he saw a dirty penny heads up at his feet
G D/F# Em
And it made him think of an old tall tale
Am D G
Of a woman who pushed �round a cart
G D/F# Em
And the boy who fed her and helped her
C G D
Knew he should have deep in his heart
G D/F# Em
Oh, where did he hear that old tall tale?
C G D
But hey, what a story to spread
So he told it to his own growing boy
Once in a while before bed
Outro:
G D Dsus4 (2x) C9
D Dsus4 (2x)
