Harry Chapin – Dirt Gets Under The Fingernails (Guitar)

    C          G7     C                G7
Now he was a man who worked with his hands

C         G7             C     G7
Only in a motor he found peace

C                G7       C          G7
He could make an engine sing like a bird

         F
He could find his only kind of release

            G7                      C       G7  C  G7
When he was up to the elbows in the grease

    C            G7       C          G7
She dreamed of a time for painting

           C               G7              C      G7
As she was cleaning up his stains from the rug

      C          G7                C
She'd play all day with their children

           F
And try to meet him with a welcome and hug

           G7                              C
As he came shuffling thru the house with a shrug

          C          G         F     C
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails

              G         F
And hate gets under the skin

      C           G/B            F/A         Em/G
But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone

        F          G              F      C  G7
And the heart of a body that it's in

      C             G7             C           G7
While he was making magic with his piston machines

        C               G7               C       G7
She was cleaning up the mess he'd left behind

        C                 G7             C                       F
She was trying to make it through to the end of the day with a little empty time

            G7                          C
And do the painting that meant peace of mind

          C          G         F     C
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails

              G         F
And hate gets under the skin

      C           G/B            F/A         Em/G
But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone

        F          G              F      C  G7  C
And the heart of a body that it's in

         Fmaj7                       Em7
Well one day she didn't bother 'bout making his bed

   Dm7                               Cmaj7
She hurried all the children out the door

   Fmaj7                      Em7
And she let the bills and the marketing go

        Dm7                            G
And she went and almost bought out an art supply store

         C            G7               C        G7
It just happened that day he got to thinking

          C                   G7          C      G7
Of the grease that always covered up his skin

      C          G7            C
So he left the garage a little early

           F
He got a shave and a manicure and trim

         G7                      C     G7  C  G7
Came out clean as a plaster mannequin

C       G7        C       G7
He came home in a hurry

C                    G7             C     G7
But he almost didn't recognize the place

    C                    G7         C
It looked like it'd been hit by a hurricane

          F
There was canvas filling every open space

            G7                 C
And she had paint all over her face

          C          G         F     C
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails

              G         F
And hate gets under the skin

      C           G/B            F/A         Em/G
But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone

        F          G              F      C G7  C
And the heart of a body that it's in

      C
They both stood stunned into silence

            C
Then their laughter exploded like a shout

    C                          C
And he went out to make some magic in the kitchen

     F
The clean man learning what cooking was about

        G7                                  C      G7  C
And the dirty girl painting her messy heart out

          C          G         F     C
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails

              G         F
And hate gets under the skin

      C           G/B            F/A         Em/G
But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone

        F          G              F      C
And the heart of a body that it's in