Nostalgia Blues

Intro: F C F C
       F C C/B Am
       F G

Verse 1
F                            C
    See you still haven't quit smoking
        F                                  C
Is that really all that you can think to say?
    F                                  C C/B     Am
I remember your bedsheets smudged with ashes and burns
         F                                    G
When you stayed up all night reading The Brothers K

F                               C
    I know nostalgia's a Southall waitress
       F                              C
Saving nickels for a rainy day far removed
        F                               C     C/B Am
Still I can't ever remember seeing your tongue so tied
       F                 G
Or your hands shake so loose

Bridge 1
F                                G
    Yes, everyone wants to believe their time was special, Nick
        Am                       F
See the dish run away with the spoon

Chorus 1
                 C
Then they settle down
                G
And they settle in
                   Am                             F
And they curse the night for givin' them all those sweet dreams
         C                                G
All those sweet dreams, they bartered and sold
          F   C
So long ago


Verse 2
F                           C
    Coachie was wise to get out when he did
              F                   C
And hitch his pony to an actual star
           F                      C     C/B     Am
You know, he's playing the Sydney Opera House tonight
                 F                                  G
Aren't y'all still sleeping on strangers' wooden floors, yes

F                                     C
    How'd you get that iceberg way up on your shoulder, Jim?
        F                              C
Can't we force our old demons into a truce?
   F                           C C/B  Am
No, I'm afraid what we did was secret then
               F                       G
Don't act surprised it now applies to you

Bridge 2
F                                G
    I guess everyone thinks genius is in their blood
            Am                                 F
Or at least livin' down the street a door or two

Chorus 2
                     C
And then they settle down
                G
And they settle in
                    Am                                 F
And they curse the night for punishing them with those sweet dreams
       C                                G
All those sweet dreams that exposed their soul
          F   C
So long ago


Verse 3
F                                          C
    Bobby says the translator's nightmare is finding all the right words
    F                                     C
But somehow still gettin' the whole story wrong
     F                                C      C/B    Am
And all you guitar poets, well you're life's little butchers
F                                     G
    Go ahead and put that one in your song

F                               C
    You've got endless tales of love gone bad
  F                          C
I guess our Romeo is really cursed
F                                   C  C/B   Am
    You poke your nose in everyone's dirty clothes
         F                               G
So you can turn 'em into your light, loose verse

Bridge 3
F                                 G
    Well, my life isn't neat rhymes and punchlines
      Am                        F
Cheap laughs and your talking blues
F                     G
    And I wish that for just one time
        Am                  F
You could stand inside my shoes

Chorus 3
                 C
You could settle down
                     G
And you could settle in
                         Am                            F
And you could curse the night for givin' you all those sweet dreams
       C                             G
All those sweet dreams I watched corrode
          F   C
So long ago


Verse 4
F                           C
    Well, it's easy to get hung up
   F                                 C
On all the things that you'll never have
F                         C  C/B   Am
    A backyard pool, your mother's love,
 F                  G
John Lennon's autograph

F                            C
    Some people step into an ambulance
      F                    C
While others slip into a trance
F                                C C/B  Am
    I've heard the sky blooms Picassos, though
        F                                G
If you stop and give the clouds half a chance

Bridge 4
F                        G
    But I won't go to your funeral, Sue
                Am                                 F
But I've got a couch if you ever need a place to crash

Chorus 4
                C
We could settle down
                G
We could settle in
                    Am                           F
We could thank the night for givin' us all those sweet dreams
          C                                       G
All those sweet dreams, like swords pulled from stones
                     Am                                F
While we filled our notebooks with grass, branch, and bone
                    C
Aw, here's to the sweet dreams
                         G
That wouldn't leave us alone
          F   C
So long ago