Christy Moore – Ordinary Man (Guitar)

Am               G              F               Am
I’m an ordinary man, nothing special, nothing grand 

      F                G          Am
I’ve had to work for everything I own

Am                   G           F               Am
I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got 

   F                G            Am
Enough to keep my family and my home

   F                         G                 C      G/B   Am
Now they say that times are hard and they’ve handed me my cards 

           F                           E
They say there’s not the work to go around 

 Am                    G          F                 Am
And when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close

      F                   G                 Am
Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down

                     F   G   Am
And they’ll tear it d-o-w-n

Am                G                 F                Am
I never missed a day, nor went on strike for better pay

       F         G                  Am
For 20 years I served them best I could 

 Am                          G                 F        Am
Now with a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget 

      F              G                     Am
Loyalty through the bad times and through good 

 F                   G               C         G/B   Am
The owner says he’s sad to see that things have got so bad 

           F                                E
But the captains of industry won’t let him lose 

Am                 G        F         Am
He still drives a car and smokes his cigar 

F                     G           Am                F   G   Am
And still takes his family on a cruise, he’ll never lose 

Am              G           F    Am
Now it seems to me such a cruel irony 

       F              G            Am
He’s richer now than ever he was before

Am                G          F               Am
Now my check is spent and I cant afford the rent 

         F               G                 Am
There’s one law for the rich, one for the poor

   F             G              C      G/B   Am
Every day I’ve tried to salvage some of my pride 

      F                                E
To find some work so’s I might pay my way

Am                  G          F           Am
Oh but everywhere I go, the answers always no

F                     G           Am
There’s no work for anyone here today

            F   G   Am
No work t-o-d-a-y

Am                   G               F     Am
And so condemned I stand, just an ordinary man

         F       G                Am
Like thousands beside me in the queue 

Am                  G              F                Am
I watch my darling wife trying to make the best of life 

 F                      G                Am
And God knows what the kids are going to do

  F               G        C      G/B   Am 
Now that we are faced with this human waste 

F                   E
A generation cast aside 

Am            G       F            Am
As long as I live, I never will forgive, 

           F                G         Am                     F  G  Am
You’ve stripped me of my dignity and pride, you stripped me bare

                  F  G  Am                  F  G  Am
You’ve stripped me bare, you’ve stripped me bare