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#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
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From: schn0170@maroon.tc.umn.edu (Adam Schneider)
IT'S A HARD LIFE WHEREVER YOU GO (Nanci Griffith)
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* Actually in C; capo 5.
* The whole song has pretty much the same chords, illustrated by the
following pattern (the strumming is just an example, taken from the intro).
The only exception is the beginning of the chorus.
D C(9) G
E 0h2-2-2-2-2-3---3-3-3-3-|3---3-3-3---3-----3-3-3-|
B 3---3-3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3-|3---3-3-3---3-----3-3-3-|
G 2---2-2-2-2-0---0-0-0-0-|0---0-0-0---0-----0-0-0-|
D 0---0-0-0-0-0h2-2-2-2-2-|0---0-0-0---0-----0-0-0-|
A ------------0h3-3-3-3-3-|0h2-2-2-2---2-----2-2-2-|
E ------------------------|0h3-3-3-3---3-----3-3-3-|
d d u d u d d u d u d d u d d u d u
D C(9) G G D C(9) G G
[intro]
D C(9) G G
I am a backseat driver from America
D C(9) G G
We drive to the left on Falls Road
D C(9) G G
And the man at the wheel's name is Seamus
D C(9) G G
We pass a child on the corner he knows
And Seamus says, now what chance has that kid got
And I say from the back, I don't know
He says there's barbed wire at all of these exits
And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid to go
C(9) G C(9) G
'Cause it's a hard life, it's a hard life, it's a very hard life
D C(9) G G
It's a hard life wherever you go
D C(9) G G
And if we poison our children with hatred
D C(9) G G
Then the hard life is all that they'll know
D C(9) G G
And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid to go
Cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
And he's the only trash here I see
And I am thinking this man wears a white hood
In the night when his children should sleep
But they'll slip to their windows and they'll see him
And they'll think that white hood's all they need
'Cause it's a hard life, it's a hard life, it's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
And if we poison our children with hatred
Then the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in Chicago for those kids to go
I was a child in the Sixties
When dreams could be held through T.V.
With Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther
And I believed, I believed, I believed
Now I am the backseat driver from America
And I am not at the wheel of control
And I am guilty, I am war, and I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road
'Cause it's a hard life, it's a hard life, it's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
And if we poison our children with hatred
Then the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in this world for those kids to go
'Cause it's a hard life wherever you go
NOTE for a 2nd guitar:
Judy Neuwirth (judynew@pipeline.com) tells me that Frank Christian
(a friend and backup guitarist of Nanci Griffith's) was her guitar
teacher at one point, and he said that when he toured with Nanci, he
played these chords over Nanci's D C G sequence (NO capo for Frank's
chords)...
G: x-x-12-12-10-10 F: x-x-10-10-8-8 C: x-x-5-5-5-3
(also xx5533 for C)
- Adam Schneider, schn0170@maroon.tc.umn.edu
Nanci Griffith - Its A Hard Life Chords :: indexed at Ultimate Guitar.
About artist:
Griffith's career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country, folk, and what she terms "folkabilly." Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her recording, Other Voices, Other Rooms. This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who are her major influences. Her best-known song is "From a Distance" by Julie Gold, although Bette Midler's version achieved greater commercial success. Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success with Griffith's songs than Griffith herself. For example, Kathy Mattea had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime," and Suzy Bogguss had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and Tom Russell's "Outbound Plane."
Griffith was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982. In the early 1990s, she was engaged to singer-songwriter Tom Kimmel, but the couple parted before marrying. Griffith is a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998.[1]
Griffith has in recent years toured with various other artists including Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Suzy Bogguss and Judy Collins. Griffith has recorded duets with many artists, among them Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (Singer of Counting Crows), and Darius Rucker (Singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). She has also contributed background vocals on many other recordings.[2] She is particularly popular in Ireland,[citation needed] and has recorded with The Chieftains.
Indexed at Wikipedia.