ted Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Intro 1]
[Em][D][G][D][C][Em][D][Em][G][D][Em][Esus4]
[Em][G]
[D]
[Em]On a back block down

[Verse 1]
Salisbury Plains
Ted was [D]born [Em]in 1895
[C]Thrust from the loins on to [G]rusty [D]soil
And the [G]cord was cut with a [Bm]scythe
[B]He said "Pe[Em]ople there are
city folk today
And they [D]couldn't tell
shit from [Em]clay
[C]A ripening crop [G]of sto[D]bie poles
There's [G]no re[D]grets when
[Em]the memory [C]roams
That [G]earth is [D]in [Em]me bones"

[Verse 2]
[G][D]
[Em]Did his [Esus4]bit in the[Em] first World War
Took the [D]shilling to fight [Em]the Hun
Mud [C]up to his crotch [G]in Flanders [D]fields
And the [G]gas eating out his lung[Bm]s
[B]He said "Me bes[Em]t mate died
hanging on the barbed wire
And [D]when the attack was [Em]through
We [C]took some prisoners [G]to HQ
[D]And [G]shared a [D]fag and [Em]a yarn or two
[C]They [G]were the same as [D]me [Em]and you"

[Verse 3]
And I [C]asked old Ted what [D]history meant
[G]As he sha[C]rpened his hedging she[Em]ars
"What a [C]bloody fool question that [D]is my boy
I [C]lived it for [Am]83 years"
[Em]

[Verse 4]
[G]
[D]See[Em] him every year on Anzac Day
Swilling [D]beers down at the
Rex [Em]Hotel
He'd laugh [C]with his mates
and go [G]deep in thought
[D]Where he wen[G]t even he couldn't tel[Bm]l
[B]He said [Em]"K ing and Country,
cock'n'bull
[D]We fought just to sur[Em]vive
The [C]anger might have [G]faded still
this feeling grabs me [D]deep in[C]side
I [G]guess you could [D]call [Em]it pride"

[Verse 5]
[G]
[D]As a nav[Em]vy on the line in the Nullabor
The Depres[D]sion left [Em]its scars
Heaving [C]cold steel rails in the [G]burning sun
[D]And fre[G]ezing beneath the[Bm] stars
[B]He said "If[Em] you escaped
the susso queues
You had a [D]hell of price [Em]to pay
And [C]when time flowed like an [G]open [D]wound
I'd [G]blow [D]me dough on a [Em]Sat urday
[C]And [G]drink [D]the pain [Em]away"

[Verse 6]
And I [C]asked old Ted what [D]history [G]meant
As he [C]sharpened his hedging [Em]shears
"What a [C]bloody fool question that [D]is my [G]boy
I [C]lived it for [Am]83 years"[Em]
On Sunday arvo he'd sit and talk
Over a [D]dozen cold West End
Of [C]what was gained and
what was lost
And would [Am]never come [D]again

[Verse 7]
He said [Em]"Money you know
it comes and goes
On [D]booze and rent and fags
You can [C]make a fortune on overtime
And lose [Am]it all on the nags[D]
But [Em]years of toil with a bunch of mates
You know it [D]leaves you satisfied
Though we [C]never moved a mountain
We [Am]sure gave it a [D]try"
Pick the [Em]wheat from the chaff

[Verse 8]
[D]And the steel from the scurf
And the [C]honest man from the [Bm]li ar
If [Am]wisdom came by [C]other names
[G]Ted was [D]earth and [Em]fire[D][G][D]
[C][Em][D][G][D][Em]
[Esus4]
On the day that [Em]old Ted died
[D]No- one would [Em]have known
[C]Buried in a pau[G]per's [D]grave
He [G]lived and died [Bm]alone
[B]And[Em] the 727s roared overhead
With the [D]drone of the angry
[Em]roads
[C]There seemed a pause [G]for just [D]a while
And [G]the silence was [D]heard
around [Em]for m[C]iles
And the si[G]lence was [D]heard for miles

[Outro 1]
[Em][D][Em][G][D][C][B][Em][D][G]
[D][Em]