Be The Bigger Man

Intro:

(Small muted strums - watch youtube to get strumming pattern)

 | G | Em7 | Cadd9 | D D7 |

Verse 1:
(Single Strum)
G
Sorry son you've got to go to school again today
            Em7
'Cause if you don't get educated you will never find your way
           Cadd9
I know it doesn't seem it's worth it at the moment but it's true
               D                             D7
These are the best days of your life my boy, would I lie to you?

(full strumming pattern from here)
    G
So grab your lunch and text books and get your arse out of the door
         Em7
And I'll drop you at the gates where I've dropped you a thousand times before
        Cadd9
Do your best to learn some lessons have some fun and make some friends
            D                                  D7
You've only got a few years left and you will thank me in the end


Chorus 1:
                Cadd9
I know its hard
         D
But don't cry
               G        D       Cadd9
'cause these things are sent to try
           Cadd9                             D            (Hold D here)      G
I know you find it hard to see but you are always going to be the bigger man


Verse 2:

G cont. into quick muted strum.

(single strum)
G
  Things is dad you never see what happens when you go
      Em7
I become the primary target for every bully that I know
           Cadd9
You always taught me that the best way to avoid a bullies fist
      D                                      D7
Is to ignore them and they'll move along but that's not true is it

(full strumming pattern)
     G
So I accept my daily beating with a minimum of fuss
    Em7
And accept that fact that that's just how it goes for kids like us
        Cadd9
For the moderately intelligent or slightly overweight
    D                                    D7
The best years of your life might not be all that fucking great


Chorus 2:
                Cadd9
I know its hard
         D
But I wont cry
               G        D       Cadd9
'cause these things are sent to try
           Cadd9                             D            (Hold D here)
Although I find it hard to see how I am ever going to be the bigger man

Bridge:

|G D | Cadd9 |

Em7    D                 Cadd9
I never stood a chance did I...
Em7             D                  Cadd9
The overweight religious kid with four eyes...
Em7             D             Cadd9
Everything that they fed me through...
Em7         D                   Cadd9
Made me a bigger man that all of you!


| G | Em7 | Cadd9 | D D7 |

Verse 3:

(single strum)
G
Then one day two decades on I'm drinking in the pub
        Em7
And the guy who used to kick my arse at school just wonders up
   Cadd9
He tries to be all nice to me as if everything had changed
               D (Full strumming pattern)  D7
I grabbed the fucker by the throat and I carefully explained

       G
That a decade of sustained mental and physical abuse
               Em7
At the hands of him and all his friends had unsurprisingly produced
            Cadd9
A good deal of repressed resentment and the tendency to snap
            D                                   D7
No I don't want to be your friend how could you ever have for that?

Chorus 3:

                       Cadd9
I thought you were hard
         D
So don't cry
               G        D       Cadd9
'Cause these things are sent to try
           Cadd9                            D
And that fear you're feeling now is no comparison to how
          Cadd9                          D
You made me feel at school but I wont stoop top being cruel
          Cadd9
And I'll walk away in peace
            D
Because I'm always going to be the bigger man

| Cm D7 | G |