Phil Ochs – Tape From California (Guitar)

E
Who's that coming down the road

D               A
A sailor from the sea

D                   F#m
He looks a lot like me

             E         G
I'd know him anywhere, had to stare

E
Feathers at his fingertips

D               A
A halo 'round his spine

D                     F#m
he must have lost his mind

             E         G
he should be put away, right away

C#m
In the corner of the night

D                Bm
he handed me his waterpipe

    F#m                 Bm             E
His eyes were searching deep inside my head

E
Here's what he said

Am
Sorry I can't stop and talk now

       D
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

         C          G             A
But I'll send you a tape from California

E                                   D               A
New York city has exploded and it's crashed upon my head

D                F#m
I dove beneath the bed

          E               G
Fighting, biting nails, turning pale

E
The landlord's at my window

D                   A
And the burglar's at my door

D                F#m
I can't take it anymore

              E                 G
I guess I'll have to fly, it's worth a try

C#m
Someone's banging on the wall

D                   Bm
But there's no party to recall

F#m            Bm              E
The singer of the shadows of his soul

E
So he's been told

Am
Sorry I can't stop and talk now

       D
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

         C          G             A
But I'll send you a tape from California

D            C             D            C
From the mirror of my mantle to the velvet on my vest

D              C               Am            E
Trapped upon a stolen stage, a Barrymore at best

A                 G       A               G
My rhymes are all repeating, ballads growing blind

G#m                     A         F#m           B7
Words have turned to water, the women turned to wine

E                                      D              A
The draft board is debating if they'd like to take my life

D                 F#m
I'd sooner take a wife

          E
And have raise a child or two

   G
Wouldn't you?

E
Peace has turned to poison

D                   A
The flag has blown a fuse

D                F#m
Even courage is confused

             E                 G
And now all the brave are in the grave

C#m
Century is bending

D                   Bm
have a very happy ending

F#m            Bm              E
To the victor go the ashes of the spoils

E
Seeds in the soil

Am
Sorry I can't stop and talk now

       D
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

         C          G             A
But I'll send you a tape from California

E
The flower-power fuller brush man

D               A
is farming out his friends

D                   F#m
I stabbed him with my stem

             E             G
And then I tapped his toes with my rose

E
He crawled around inside himself

D                   A
Now he's crawling after me

D                 F#m
Dropping acid in my tea

         E                       G
He wants to save his soul, rock and roll

C#m
One of us must understand

D                   Bm
It's not the drug that makes the man

F#m            Bm              E
Then a poster of a movie star walked by

E
He must have been high

Am
Sorry I can't stop and talk now

       D
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

         C          G             A
But I'll send you a tape from California

D            C             D            C
Half the world is crazy and the other half is scared

D              C               Am            E
Maddonas do the minuet for the naked millionaires

A                 G       A               G
The anarchists are rising while we're racing for the moon

G#m                     A         F#m           B7
It doesn't take a seer to see that the scene is coming soon

E
Who's that coming down the road

D               A
A sailor from the sea

D                   F#m
He looks a lot like me

             E         G
I'd know him anywhere, had to stare

E
A fire around his fingertips

D               A
A song around his spine

D                   F#m
He must have found his mind

          E            G
He should be put away, anyway

C#m
Surrounded by the slaughter

D                   Bm
Now I'm boarding at the border

F#m            Bm              E
When the echoes of my ecstacy appear

E
Wish I was here

Am
Sorry I can't stop and talk now

       D
I'm in kind of a hurry anyhow

         C          G             A
But I'll send you a tape from California