Phil Ochs – Flower Lady (Guitar Live)

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
Millionaires and paupers walk the hungry street

G       C       G       C       D
Rich and poor companions of the restless beat

Bm              C
Strangers in a foreign land

Bm              C
Strike a match with a trembling hand

Bm              Em   C   D
Learn too much to ever understand

       C              D       G       C       G C G C
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
Lover's quarrel, snarl away their happiness

G       C       G       C       D
Kisses crumble in a web of loneliness

Bm              C
It's written by the poison pen

Bm              C
Voices break before they bend

Bm              Em   C   D
The door is slammed, it's over once again

       C              D       G       C       G C G C
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
Poets agonize, they cannot find the words

G       C       G       C       D
And the stone stares at the sculptor, asks "Are you absurd?"

Bm              C
The painter paints his brushes back

Bm              C
Through the canvas runs a crack

Bm              Em   C   D
Portrait of the pain never answers back

       C              D       G       C       G C G C
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
Soldiers disillusioned come home from the war

G       C       G       C       D
Sarcastic students tell them not to fight no more

Bm              C
And they argue through the night

Bm              C
Black is black, white is white

Bm              Em   C   D
Walk away both knowing they are right

       C              D       G       C       G C G C
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
Smoke dreams of escaping souls are drifting by

G       C       G       C       D
Dull the pain of living as they slowly die

Bm              C
Smiles change into a sneer

Bm              C
Washed away by whiskey tears

Bm              Em   C   D
In the quicksand of their mind they disappear

       C              D       G       C       G C G C
Still nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
Feeble aged people almost to their knees

G       C       G       C       D
Complain about the present using memories

Bm              C
Never found their pot of gold

Bm              C
Wrinkled hands pound weary holes

Bm              Em   C   D
Each line screams out you're old, you're old, you're old

       C              D       G       C       G C G C
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

G       C       G       C       G       C     G C
And the flower lady hobbles home without a sale

G       C       G       C       D
Tattered shreds of petals leave a fading trail

Bm              C
Not a pause to hold a rose

Bm              C
Even she no longer knows

Bm              Em   C   D
The lamp goes out, the evening now is closed

       C              D       G       C       G C G C G
And nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady