Ted

Em D Am Em G D C B Em D Am Em G D Em

[Verse 1]
G D  Em                         
     On a backblock down 
                  D          Em
Salisbury Plains Ted was born in 
1895
C                          G     
Thrust from the loins onto rusty 
D            G                   
soil And the cord was cut with a 
Bm
scythe
        Em                         
He said "People there are city folk
                D                  
 today And they couldn't tell shit 
     Em
from clay
  C                G      D      
A ripening crop of stobie poles -
         G        D          Em  
 There's no regrets when the 
   C
memory roams
     G          D       Em
That earth is in me bones

[Verse 2]
G D  Em                         
Did his bit in the First World 
                  D          Em
War Took the shilling to fight the 
Hun
C                          G     
Mud up to his crotch in Flanders 
D            G                   
fields And the gas eating at his 
Bm
lungs
        Em                         
He said "Me best mate died hanging 
                D              
on the barbed wire And when the 
         Em
attack was through
  C                G      D      
We took some prisoners to HQ And 
         G        D          Em  
shared a fag and a yarn or two
   C

     G          D       Em
They were the same as me and you"

[Chorus]
Em    C                     D    
And I asked old Ted what history 
G
meant
      C                     Em
As he sharpened his hedging shears
        C                         
"What a bloody fool question that 
D     G
is my boy
  Cmaj7                  Em
I lived it for 83 years"

Continues after the ad
[Verse 3]
G D  Em                         
See him every year on Anzac Day 
                  D          Em
Swilling beers down at the Rex Hotel
C                          G     
He'd laugh with his mates and go 
D            G                   
deep in thought Where he went even 
Bm
he couldn't tell...
        Em                
He said "King and country, 
                D            
cock'n'bull We fought just to 
       Em
survive
  C                G      D      
The anger might have faded, still
         G        D          Em  
 this feeling grabs me deep 
   C
inside
     G          D       Em
I guess you could call it pride"

[Verse 4]
G D  Em                   
As a navvy on the line in the 
                        D       
Nullabor The Depression left its 
   Em
scars
C                          G 
Heaving cold steel rails in the 
    D            G                
burning sun And freezing beneath 
   Bm
the stars
        Em                       
He said "If you escaped the susso 
         D                   Em
queues You had a hell of a price to 
pay
  C                G      D      
And when time flowed like an open
         G        D          
 wound I'd blow me dough on a 
Em     C
Saturday
     G        D       Em
And drink the pain away"

[Chorus]
Em    C                     D    
And I asked old Ted what history 
G
meant
      C                     Em
As he sharpened his hedging shears
        C                         
"What a bloody fool question that 
D     G
is my boy
  Cmaj7                  Em
I lived it for 83 years"

[Verse 5]
On Sunday arvo he'd sit and talk 
       D
Over a dozen cold West End
   Cmaj7                           
Of what was gained and what was 
            A            D/F#
lost And would never come again
        Em                         
He said "Money you know it comes 
          D
and goes On booze and rent and fags
        Cmaj7                      
You can make a fortune on overtime 
    Am                 D/F#
And lose it all on the nags
    Em                           
But years of toil with a bunch of 
                   D
mates You know it leaves you 
satisfied
          Cmaj7
Though we never moved a mountain
   Am        Em       D/F#
We sure gave it a try"

[Bridge]
         Em                        
Pick the wheat from the chaff, And 
    D
the steel from the scurf
        C                 Bm      
And the honest man from a liar If 
Am7           Cmaj7
wisdom came by other names
G           D          Em
Ted was earth and fire

[Refrain]
Em                           D   
On the day that old Ted died 
              Em
No-one would have known
C            G       D        G
Buried in a pauper's grave He 
              Bm
lived and died alone
        Em                         
And the 727's soared over head With
 D                  Em
 drone of the angry roads
      C
There seemed a pause for just a 
while
N.C.
And the silence was heard around for
 miles
N.C.
And the silence was heard for miles