We Cant Make It Here
James McMurtry
- Cadd9
- Cadd9/B
- D
- G
Continues after the ad
Key:
D Cadd9 Cadd9/B D There's a Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign sitting there by the left turn lineD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze, one leg missing and both hands freeD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D No one's paying much mind to him, the V.A. budget's just stretched so thinD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war, we can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D And that big ol' building was the textile mill, it fed our kids and it paid our billsD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D But they turned us out and they closed the doors, we can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D See those pallets piled up on the loading dock, they're just gonna set there till they rotD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D 'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack, just busted concrete and rusted tracksD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Empty storefronts around the square, there's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhereD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score, we can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D The bar's still open but man it's slow, the tip jar's light and the register's lowD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D The bartender don't have much to say, the regular crowd gets thinner each dayD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Some have maxed out all their credit cards, some are working two jobs and living in carsD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Minimum wage don't pay for a roof, don't pay for a drink, if you gotta have proofContinues after the adD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Just try it yourself Mr. CEO See how far 5.15 an hour will goD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Take a part time job at one of your stores I bet you can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 G D Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D And there's a high school girl with a bourgeois dream, just like the pictures in the magazineD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D She found on the floor of the Laundromat, a woman with kids can forget all thatD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D If she comes up pregnant what'll she do, forget the career, forget about schoolD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Can she live on faith? live on hope, high on Jesus or hooked on dopeD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D When it's way too late to just say no, you can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 G D Cadd9 G D Cadd9D Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store just like the ones we made beforeD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D 'Cept this one came from Singapore, I guess we can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm inD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today, no I hate the men sent the jobs awayD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams, all lily white and squeaky cleanD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D They've never known want, they'll never know need, their s**t don't stink and their kids won't bleedD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Their kids won't bleed in the damn little war and we can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Will work for food, will die for oil, will kill for power and to us the spoilsD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D The billionaires get to pay less tax, the working poor get to fall through the cracksD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Let 'em eat jellybeans, let 'em eat cake, let 'em eat s**t, whatever it takesD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps if they can't make it here anymoreD Cadd9 G D Cadd9 GD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D And that's how it is, that's what we got if the president wants to admit it or notD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D You can read it in the paper, read it on the wall, hear it on the wind, if you're listening at allD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Get out of that limo, look us in the eye, call us on the cell phone, tell us all whyD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D In Dayton, Ohio or Portland, Maine or a cotton gin out on the great high plainsD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D That's done closed down along with the school and the hospital and the swimming poolD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Dust devils dance in the noonday heat, there's rats in the alley and trash in the streetD Cadd9 Cadd9/B D Gang graffiti on a boxcar door, we can't make it here anymore