Thirty Years Of Tears
John Hiatt
From the 1990 A&M Records release Stolen Moments

Transcribed by Jim O'Neill (thunderbird2k1@hotmail.com)

A great song...and by no coincidence transcribed on my 30th birthday. This is a
waltz (¾ time), listen to the CD for timing and the chord pattern. In the intro
and between lines of the verse for the chord change from G to Cadd9, play the
G (320033), lift your first two fingers and strum the A7sus4(x00033), then hammer
the 1st and 2nd fingers to the Cadd9(x32033).


Chords

   G   A7Sus4   Cadd9   Em7   Dsus2   Dsus4   Dsus4/A   G5/B    
e|--3---3--------3-------3-----0-------3-------3---------3----|
B|--3---3--------3-------3-----3-------3-------3---------3----|
G|--0---0--------0-------0-----2-------2-------2---------0----|
D|--0---0--------2-------2-----0-------0-------0---------0----|
A|--2---0--------3-------2-----x-------x-------0---------2----|
E|--3---x--------x-------0-----x-------x-------x---------x----|


Intro and Riff 1: G  A7sus4 Cadd9 (see performance notes)

G         Em7         Cadd9        G       Riff 1
Is this a place I can rest my poor head,
   G         Em7               Cadd9   G        Riff 1
To gather my thoughts in sweet si......lence?
G         Em7             Cadd9           G       Riff 1
Is this a place where the feelings aren't dead,
        G     Em7       Dsus2
From an overexposure to violence?
    Dsus4/A   G5/B        Cadd9  G5/B
And is this a place I can slowly face
         Dsus4/A G5/B      Cadd9
The only one I   truly can know?

          G            Cadd9      G
These are tears from a long time ago,
Cadd9          G            Cadd9      G
I've got these tears from a long time ago,
    Cadd9     G   D      Dsus4 D  Em7
and I need to cry thirty years or so.
G         Cadd9        D    Dsus4 G
These are tears from a long time  ago.

Cadd9  G5/B  Dsus4/A
 
     G            Em7          Cadd9    G       Riff 1
"Oh, Darling, Oh, darling" you say unto me,
     G              Em7         Cadd9  G       Riff 1
"Oh, Where have you been all my life...time?"
      G           Em7          Cadd9     G       Riff 1
Well, I have been swimmin' the seven sad seas,
     G          Em7             Dsus2
Fair women have thrown me their lifelines,
      Dsus4/A          G5/B      Cadd9        G5/B
And I just pulled them in to the water's dark grin,
         Dsus4/A        G5/B     Cadd9
I'd have warned 'em but I didn't know.

          G            Cadd9      G
These are tears from a long time ago,
Cadd9          G            Cadd9      G
I've got these tears from a long time ago,
    Cadd9     G   D      Dsus4 D  Em7
and I need to cry thirty years or so.
G         Cadd9        D    Dsus4 G
These are tears from a long time  ago.

Cadd9  G5/B  A7Sus4 G

Interlude Chords:

Dsus4

Cadd9  B/G5  A/Dsus4  G  (2x)

Cadd9  Dsus4  Em7  G  (2x)

Cadd9  B/G5  A/Dsus4  G  (2x)

Cadd9  B/G5  A/Dsus4

           G          Em7         Cadd9      G        Riff 1
Well, I've cried me a river, I've cried me a lake,
        G              Em7         Cadd9       G      Riff 1
Hell, I cried 'til the past nearly drowned me.
G             Em7          Cadd9     G           Riff 1
Tears for sad consequence, tears for mistakes,
    G           Em7           Dsus2
But never these tears that surround me.
Dsus4/A       G5/B         Cadd9       G5/B
Alone in this place with a lifetime to trace,
      Dsus4/A        G5/B          Cadd9
And a heartbeat that tells me it's so.

                       G            Cadd9      G
Oh, and I've got these tears from a long time ago,
Cadd9     G            Cadd9      G
These are tears from a long time ago,
    Cadd9     G   D      Dsus4 D  Em7
and I need to cry thirty years or so,
G         Cadd9        D    Dsus4 G
These are tears from a long time  ago,
          Cadd9        D    Dsus4 G
These are tears from a long time  ago,
               Cadd9        D    Dsus4 G
I've got these tears from a long time  ago.