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

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

[Chorus]
      G                   D              D/A             A
So I bid farewell to the Eastern town I never more will see;
     G               D                          A
But work I must so I eat this dust and breathe refinery.
      D                       A        Bm            G                 Bm
Oh I miss the green and the woods and streams and I don't like cowboy clothes;
       G                   D                A         D
But I like being free and that 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                   G             Bm
So come all you fine young 'fellers who've been beaten to the ground.
      G                   D                                  A
This western life's no paradise, but it's better than lying down.
         D                                 A       Bm             G               Bm
Oh, the streets aren't clean, and there's nothing green, and the hills are dirty brown,
         G                    D                  A                  D
But the government Dole will rot your soul back there in your home town.

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