The Idiot

E|------2---------2-| 
B|------3-----3-----| 
G|------2-------2---| 
D|--0---0-----------| 
A|----------0-------| 
E|------------------| 

That could be very wrong, if anyone 
has anything better let me know! I 
believe it is also this or something
similar that is played for most of 
the song.

In some places it can be heard clearly-(ish) and sounds more like this:
E|------2---------2-| 
B|------3-------3---| 
G|------2-----2-----| 
D|--0---0-----------| 
A|----------0-------| 
E|------------------| 

Also, Stan seems to use an odd 
tuning for most of his songs, but I 
could not tell if this was one of 
them,
I tried to use it but couldn't make 
it work. His tuning is a variation 
of DADGAD and can be decently
replicated as such. From what I can 
tell his exact tuning is: DADGBD.
Anyway, with due apologies to my 
fellow Albertans and Ontarians, but 
no apologies to Morris Dancers, here
 is
my rendition of The Idiot by Stan 
Rogers.

[Intro] (D Chord)
E|----------------2-|----------2--
B|--------------3---|----------3--
G|------------2-----|----------2--
D|--0---0---0-------|--0---0---0--
A|------------------|-------------
E|------------------|-------------

[Verse]
D                   A          
I often take these night shift 
Bm              G             Bm
walks when the foreman's not around.
   G                   D          
I turn my back on the cooling 
                      A
stacks and make for open ground.
    D               A         Bm 
Far out beyond the tank farm 
             G                  Bm
fence where the gas flare makes no 
sound,
   G                      D   
I forget the stink and I always 
             A        G      D
think back to that Eastern town.

Continúa después del anuncio
[Verse]
D                    A     Bm   
I remember back six years ago, 
     G             Bm
this Western life I chose.
      G              D            
And every day, the news would say 
                        A
some factory's going to close.
         D                    A   
Well, I could have stayed to take 
    Bm         G              Bm
the Dole, but I'm not one of those.
        G                 D       
I take nothing free, and that 
         A     G   D
makes me an idiot, I suppose.

[Chorus]
      G                   D    
So I bid farewell to the Eastern 
          D/A             A
town I never more will see;
     G               D            
But work I must so I eat this dust
              A
 and breathe refinery.
      D                       A   
Oh I miss the green and the woods 
     Bm            G              
and streams and I don't like 
   Bm
cowboy clothes;
       G                   D      
But I like being free and that 
          A         D
makes me an idiot I suppose.

[Break] (same as verse with a fiddle
 playing the melody)
D         A     Bm      G      
       Bm
G         D                      
     A
D         A     Bm      G      
       Bm
G         D             A       

      D

[Verse]
    D                       Bm    
So come all you fine young 
               G             Bm
'fellers who've been beaten to the 
ground.
      G                   D       
This western life's no paradise, 
                           A
but it's better than lying down.
         D                       
Oh, the streets aren't clean, and 
          A       Bm             
there's nothing green, and the 
G               Bm
hills are dirty brown,
         G                    D
But the government Dole will rot 
                  A              
your soul back there in your home 
    D
town.

[Chorus]
    G                   D         
So bid farewell to the Eastern 
       D/A             A
town you never more will see.
         G                   D    
There's self-respect and a steady 
                     A
cheque in this refinery.
          D                    
You will miss the green and the 
 A        Bm                G    
woods and streams and the dust 
               Bm
will fill your nose.
      G                  D        
But you'll be free, and just like 
        A          D
me, an idiot, I suppose