"Country Life" by Show of Hands Transcribed by Chris Parker Em G C Working in the rain cutting down wood G D Didn't do my little brother much good Em G C Lost two fingers in a chainsaw bite G D All he does now is drink and fight C D G Sells a bit of grass hots up cars Am G C Talks of travel never gets far C D G Loves his kids left his wife Am G C An everyday story of country life Em G C And the red brick cottage where I was born G D Is the empty shell of a holiday home Em G C Most of the year there's no-one there G D The village is dead and they don't care C D G Now we live on the edge of town Am G C Haven't been back since the pub closed down C D G One man's family pays the price Am G C C FOr another man's vision of country life C Em C D I'm singing oooooooh oh ooh Em C D oooooooh oh ooh... Em G C My old man is eighty four G D His generation won the war Em G C He left the farm forever when G D They only kept on one in ten C D G Landed gentry county snobs Am G C Where were you when they lost their jobs C D G No-one marched or subsidised Am G C To save a country way of life Em Silent fields empty lanes Drifting smoke distant flames Picture postcard hills on fire Cattle burning in funeral pyres C D G Out to graze they look so sweet Am G C We hate the blood we want the meat C D G Buy me a beer I'll take my knife Am G C C Cut you a slice of country life C Em C D I'm singing oooooooh oh ooh Em C D oooooooh oh ooh... Em C If you want cheap food well here's the deal D Family farms are brought to heel Em C Hammer blows of size and scale D Foot and mouth the final nail Em C The coffin of our English dream D Lies out on the village green Em C While agri-barons CAP in hand D Strip this green and pleasant land Em C Of meadow, woodland, hedgerow, pond D What remains gets built upon Em C No trains, No jobs D No shops, no pubs Em C D What went wrong D Em C D Country life Country life N/A Em It's a little bit of country life
