…SAY IT AIN’T SO… by Murray Head

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from ‘Say It Ain’t So’ (1975)

Intro:

D Am, Em C G

Verse 1:

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
That’s not what I wanna hear Joe,
Ain’t I got a right to know?

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
I’m sure they’re,
Telling us lies Joe,
Please tell us it ain’t so.

Verse 2:

They told us that our hero,
Has played his trump card;
He doesn’t know how to go on,
We’re clinging to his charm,
And determined smile,
But the good ol’ days have gone.

Interlude:

D Am, Em C G

Verse 3:

The image and the Empire,
May be falling apart,
The money has gotten scarce,
One man’s word,
Held the country together,
But the truth is getting fierce.

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
We pinned our hopes on you Joe,
And they’re ruining our show.

Interlude:

D Am, Em C G

Break:

Ooh babies,
Don’t you think;
We’re gonna get burned?

Ooh babies,
Don’t you think;
We’re gonna get burned?
We’re gonna get turned,
We’re gonna get learned,
Yes, we’re gonna get turned.

We’re gonna get burned
We’re gonna get learned,
Yes, we’re gonna get burned.
We’re gonna get burned,
We’re gonna get learned,
Yes, we’re gonna get turned,
We’re gonna get burned.

KEY CHANGE

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Verse 4:

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
That’s not what I wanna hear Joe,
Ain’t I got a right to know?

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
I’m sure they’re,
Telling us lies Joe,
Please tell us it ain’t so.

Verse 5:

They told us that our hero,
Has played his trump card;
He doesn’t know how to go on,
We’re clinging to his charm,
And determined smile,
But the good ol’ days have gone.

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
We pinned our hopes on you Joe,
And they’re ruining our show.

Verse 6:

The image and the Empire,
May be falling apart,
The money has gotten scarce,
One man’s word,
Held the country together,
But the truth is getting fierce.

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
That’s not what I wanna hear Joe,
Ain’t I got a right to know?

Say it ain’t so Joe, please,
Say it ain’t so,
I’m sure they’re,
Telling us lies Joe,
Please tell us it ain’t so.

Outro:

E Bm, F#m D A

(Repeat to Fade)

CHORD DIAGRAMS:

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xx0232 x02210 022000 x32010 320003

x24232 244222 x02220 022100 x24432

Tabbed by Joel from cLuMsY, Bristol, England, 2007
(clumsyband@hotmail.com)

1st Verse:
Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the [C/D]city don’t know that the city is getting

The creme de la creme of the chess world in a
[C/D]Show with everything but Yul Brynner

Time flies — doesn’t seem a minute
Since the T[C/D]irolean spa had the chess boys in it

All change — don’t you know that when you
[C/D]Play at this level there’s no ordinary venue

It’s Iceland — or the Philippines — or Hastings — or —

or this place!

1st Chorus:

One night in Bangkok and the world’s [C/E]your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every gol-[C/E]den cloister
And if you’re lucky then the god’s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

2nd Verse:

One town’s very like another
When your head’s down over your pieces, brother

It’s a drag, it’s a bore, it’s really such a pity

To be looking at the board, not looking at the city
Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town —

Tea, girls, warm, sweet

Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite

Get Thai’d! You’re talking to a tourist

Whose every move’s among the purest
I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine

2nd Chorus:

One night in Bangkok makes a hard [C/E]man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough [C/E]guys tumble
Can’t be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

Solo: A7 for 8 bars

3rd Verse:

Dm |
Siam’s gonna be the witness | (Dm) only played on 2nd rotation
|
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness| ||:(Dm) C/D Dm |C/D Dm |
| | C/D Dm |C/D Dm |
This grips me more than would a | | Gm7 | :|| Gm7 A7b9|
Muddy old river or reclining Buddha | Synths plays this for the 3rd verse
And thank God I’m only watching the game — controlling it —
I don’t see you guys rating

The kind of mate I’m contemplating

I’d let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you

So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage
parlours

3rd Chorus:

One night in Bangkok and the world’s [C/E]your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every gol-[C/E]den cloister
A little flesh, a little histo-ry
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One night in Bangkok makes a hard [C/E]man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough [C/E]guys tumble
Can’t be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

A7b9 is from down to up: A(bass),G(7th),Bb(b9),C# and E, if anyone is wondering.