Misc Musicals – The Last Five Years - The Schmuel Song (Guitar)

Key
-

Auto-scroll

Chords

(This is the stage version. Mostly taken from the official sheet music) [Intro] N.C. First, a story. A little Christmas Story. I call it "The Story of Schmuel, Tailor of Klimovich" F#m C#7b9/F# F#m C#m7 F#m C#7b9/F# F#m C#m7 [Verse]
F#m                     C#7b9/F#             F#m            C#m7
Schmuel would work till half-past ten at his tailor shop in Klimovich

F#m                C#7b9/F#             Dmaj7    C#m7     F#m   C#7b9/F#
Get up at dawn and start again with the hems and pins and twist

F#m                 C#7b9/F#             F#m            C#m7
Forty-one years had come and gone at his tailor shop in Klimovich

F#m                  C#7b9/F#              Dmaj7     C#m7    F#m        C#7b9/F#
Watching the winters soldier on, there was one thing Schmuel,    missed
[Pre-Chorus]
      F#                  G#m7
"If I only had time," old Schmuel said

         F#/A#                  Bm
"I would build the dress that's in my head

  F#/A#             G#m7b5
A dress to fire the mad desire

   F#                 E9
Of girls from here to Minsk

    Dm6/9                        F#/C#
But I have no more hours left to sew"

         Dm6/9                        C#m7b5 C#7b5 C#
Then the clock upon the wall began to glow...

C#7b5 N.C.
          And the clock said:
[Chorus]
 A                  F#m7
"Na na na na, na na na

                   D      D/E A
Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be  happy!

A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na

             D   D/E A
I give you unlimited time!

A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na

               D       D/E F#m7
So Schmuel, go sew and be  happy!" But Schmuel said:

Cb5/E C/E      Cb5/E  C/E
"No,  no, it's not my lot

     Cb5/E      C/E          Cb5/E  F#m7 C#7b9/F#
I've gotta make do witht the time I've got"
[Interlude] F#m C#m7 F#m C#7b9/F# F#m C#m7 [Verse]
F#m                 C#7b9/F#             F#m                   C#m7
Schmuel was done at half-past ten and he said "Good night, old Klimovich"

F#m                C#7b9/F#         Dmaj7         C#m7  F#m         C#7b9/F#
Put on his coat to go, but then the clock cried, "Wait!     Not yet!

F#m                    C#7b9/F#                 F#m           C#m7
Even though you're not wise or rich, you're the finest man in Klimovich

F#m                C#7b9/F#                   Dmaj7    C#m7    F#m   B/F# F#m
Listen up, Schmuel make one stitch and you'll see what you can get"
[Pre-Chorus]
    F#                        G#m7
But Schmuel said "Clock, it's much too late

       F#/A#               Bm
I'm at peace with life I accept my fate..."

        F#/A#                    Bm6/G#
But the clock said "Schmuel! One stitch and you will

  F#                     E9
Unlock the dreams you've lost!"

   Dm6/9                              F#/C#
So Schmuel, with reluctance, took his thread

   Dm6/9                       A/C#
He pulled a bolt of velvet and said:

   Dm6/F              Dm6/9           F#/C#
"I should take out my teeth and go to bed

    Dm6/9            Dm6/B            C#m7b5 C#7b5 C#7susb5
I'm sitting here mit talking clocks instead!"

C#7b5
     And the clock said:
[Chorus]
 A                  F#m7
"Na na na na, na na na

                   D      D/E A
Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be  happy!

A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na

             D   D/E A
I give you unlimited time!

A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na

               D       D/E F#m7
Just do it and you can be happy!"

   Cb5/E           C/E                Cb5/E    C/E
So Schmuel put the thread through the needle's eye

        Cb5/E       C/E         Cb5/E    C/E Aaug/E
And the moon stared down from a starless sky
[Bridge]
       Cm         Cm6                Cm     Cm6
And he pushed the thread through the velvet black

       Cm              Cm6       Cm        Cm6
And he looked, and the clock was turning...back

      Eb          F/Eb          Eb       F/Eb
So he grabbed his shears and he cut some lace

       Cm7         Cm6         Cm7         Cm6  Cm7
As the hands moved left on the old clock's face

        Eb/A    Cm/A         Eb/A   Cm/A
And his fingers flew and the fabric swirled

       Am7b5                             F7
It was nine-fifteen all around the world
D Eb#11/D D Eb#11/D Every cut and stitch was a perfect fit D Eb#11/D D Eb#11/D As if God Himself were controlling it!
     Bb7
And Schmuel cried through a rush of tears

Fm7/Ab              G7               Gbmaj7           F
      "Take me back!  Take me back all      forty-one years!"
Bdim/F Bbm/F F Bbm/F [Interlude]
    Db
And on it went down that silent street

     Bbm
Till Schmuel's dress was at last complete

       Eb            Cm          Eb         Cm
And he stretched his arms and he closed his eyes

        Bbm     Cm  Eb      Ab         F    F/G F
And the morning sun finally started to rise

        Dm7
And the dress he made on that endless night

      D/F#
Was a dress that would make any soul take flight

      Fm6/Ab
Not a swatch, not a skein had gone to waste

      Fm6/Ab
Every ribbon and button ideally placed

    G             C          Fm/Ab                C/G
And sewn into the seams were forty-one seasons of dreams

Em7                   D7#11       Gsus4 Eb7sus/G Em7/G Db7
Dreams that you could feel coming real

         C/G
And that very dress, so the papers swore

        Fm/G
Was the dress a girl in Odessa wore

       C/G
On the day she promised forevermore

   Dbmaj7
To love a young man named Schmuel

    Bbm7 Db/A      C#7
Who only one day before

    C#                     F#m C#7b9/F# F#m C#m7
Had knocked at her kitchen door
F#m C#7b9/F# F#m C#m7 [Verse]
F#m                   C#7b9/F#                    F#m              C#m7
Plenty have hoped and dreamed and prayed but they can't get out of Klimovich

   F#m                     C#7b9/F#             Dmaj7    C#m7     F#m
If Schmuel had been a cute goyishe maid he'd've looked a lot like you

F#m                  C#7b9/F#            F#m         C#m7
Maybe it's just that you're afraid to go out on to a limb-ovich

F#m                   C#7b9/F#                Dmaj7    C#m7    F#m
Maybe your heart's completely swayed but your head can't follow through
[Pre-Chorus]
    F#                   G#m7
But shouldn't I want the world to see

    F#/A#                Bm
The brilliant girl who inspires me?

          F#/A#                   Bm6/G#
Don't you think that now's a good time to be

      F#                E9
The ambitious freak you are?

        Dm6/9                         F#/C#
Say goodbye to wiping ashtrays at the bar

       Dm6/9       Dm6/B  C#m7b5   C#7b5 C#7susb5 C#7
Say hello to Cathy Hiatt, big-time star!

       C# C#/B
'Cause I  say:
[Chorus]
A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na na

           D      D/E A
Cathy, you get to be  happy!

A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na

           D     D/E A
I give you unlimited time!

A                  F#m7
Na na na na, na na na

                 D      D/E F#m7
Stop temping and go and be  happy!

         Cb5/E    C/E       Cb5/E   C/E
Here's a headshot guy and a new BackStage

             Cb5/E     C/E          Cb5/E C/E
Where you're right for something on every page

       Am7            F6/9 Fmaj7        Bm/E
Take a breath, take a step,      take a chance

          A   D2/A  A D2/A A D2/A A D2/A
Take your time
[Outro]
       A2        D2/A      A2      D2/A
Have I mentioned today how lucky I am

   Bm    D/E       A    D2/A Dsus A
To be in love with you?