Jesse Welles – Philanthropist (Guitar)

Key
-
Versions (2)

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Chords

As recorded by Jesse Welles (2025 releease) Strumming for most of the song involves alternating between root note and 5th plus a muted strum Picking starts from beginning of Verse 3 and stops after "collect"
  G6 G7
e 3  3
B 0 0 G 0 0 D 2 3
A X  X
E 3  3
[Intro] C [Verse 1]
C
When I was just a boy

   F
My mother asked me this

         G          G6   G7
What you want to be when you grow up

         F             C
I said a big philanthropist

                F                     C C/B C/Bb A7
With data as my oil and illness as my business

     D7                        G      G6 G7
With guns as my retirement and war as my mistress

                   F                              C C/B C/Bb A7
I'm going to be an oligarch with a whole bunch of rockets

    D7                                  G          G6 G7
I'd get them two sides fighting and I'd empty both of their pockets
[Verse 2]
             F              C C/B C/Bb A7
And if I got bored or money weary

    D7                          G      G6  G7
I'd try my hand in dabbling in social engineering

                   F                      C C/B C/Bb A7
And I'm gonna be a billionaire with a big foundation

   D7
We used to rule in shadows

        G                  G6    G7
But I'd come right out and I'd rule the nation

                           F                        C C/B C/Bb A7
I'm gonna to do all my own laundry in a third world nation state

D7                                   G        G6  G7
Experiment with the locals like some philanthropic saint
[Verse 3]
                   F
And I'll never make a cure

                C C/B C/Bb A7
No I'd get ya a treatment plan

        D7                                G         G6    G7
You can die in slow installments and I'll bleed you while I can

                          F                   C C/B C/Bb A7
And I'd travel around the planet on a big old mystery jet

       D7
What I did would be my business

             G           G6 G7
And what you did I would collect

            F                                  C C/B C/Bb A7 
If I were a philanthropist just runnin' around Philanthropisting

      D7
Not a whole lot of help

                      G                 G6   G7
Just for myself but I gotta make it look convincing, Go!
[Outro] F (C C/B A7) D7 G7