Ballad Of A Lonely Man Acoustic Chords

Ballad of a Lonely Man
Capo 1
 
This is an acoustic version that Ness often played often during radio station interviews
during his Cheating At Solitaire tour.
 
Capo the 1st fret, and this chord chart is 100% accurate
 
The trick to playing this song acoustically is to capture Mike's (very fast) version of
Johnny Cash's  strumming style
 
To get a smooth flow entering the chorus, Mike walks down from G to Em: Strum the G chord,
then pick 6th String 3rd Fret, then 6th String 2nd Fret, then strum the Em chord. Sounds sweet.
 
=============================================================
 
[VERSE]
 
G         C             G
I'm young and I'm strong,
             D             C             G
I've got this God forsaken world by the balls.
          D        C             G
I've got a one-way ticket to freedom
              D                      G
Ain't no one now, gonna take it from me
 
[VERSE]
 
G                C           G
I was a soldier, age twenty-one
     D      C                          G
In a war not sure what I was fighting for
          D             C              G
And yet I turned from a boy to a man there
                      D                G
Goodbye to innocence, and a sweet sixteen
 
[CHORUS]
 
Em       C       G         D
My whole life, I could not arrange
Em        C     G             D
My wicked ways, I could never change
Em               C       D           G
Don't try, don't try now, to understand
 
                   D            G
This is the ballad, of a lonely man
 
[VERSE]
 
G            C           G
Close to me, is a photograph
     D               C        G
Of a family left far, far behind
          D              C            G
Ah, once I had love, it slipped away from
               D                        G
I searched a lifetime, but I could not find
 
 
[VERSE]
G                C           G
In a hospital bed, I'm violently ill
     D      C                          G
Just one more drink nurse I swear to God
D             C              G
I've got my St. Anthony and my whiskey
                   D                G
Yes I'm a veteran of three foreign wars.
 
[CHORUS]
 
Em       C       G         D
My whole life, I could not arrange
Em        C     G             D
My wicked ways, I could never change
Em               C       D           G
Don't try, don't try now, to understand
G                  D             G
This is the ballad, of a lonely man,
G               D           G
This is ballad, of a lonely man,
G                   D             G
This is the ballad, of a lone-ly man
X