e|——- ——-
B|——- ——-
G|—0h2- ——-
D|-0—– x3 -0–0-2
A|——- ——-
E|——- ——-

In the little town of Candor, in the last year of my youth,
I learned the final lesson of the levels to the truth.
My father was a farmer he’d go tilling in the ground.
My mother was a neighbor she’d go visiting around.

But I didn’t care,
For I had found the answer to a plowboy’s lonely prayer.
She was the daughter of the Mayor.

The Mayor fought my courtship, for he’d made other plans,
He saw her married to a better man than a boy with farmer’s hands.
I said — I hate your father, it’s so hard not to strike him.
She said –You know I love you because you’re so much like him.

And so I’d go sneaking in the evening,
And there she’d stand a crying in the dawn as I was leaving.

But the Mayor of Candor lied,
When he offered me his only daughter.
The Mayor of Candor tried,
To take her off across the water.
What a thing to do to a young man in love.
What a thing to do to your daughter.

Repeat intro

One day with father on his tractor and mother off again,
I go to find the mayor and work out what I can.
But he is not at his office, he is not at his home,
When I find him in the countryside he is not alone.

He is holding a woman and imagine my surprise,
As she jumps back from his arms I look into my mother’s eyes!

The mayor of Candor lied

All my thoughts of outrage, embarrassment and pain,
Were washed away by what came roaring through my brain.
The Mayor’s at my mercy and I hear my own voice say,
Your run for re-election, sir, is just one month away.

And the world will never know of what I’ve seen here sir,
But I’ll be with your daughter is my meaning clear, sir?

The Mayor of Candor lied,
When he offered me his only daughter.
The Mayor of Candor tried,
To take her off across the water.
What a thing to do to a young man in love.
What a thing to do to your daughter.

Repeat intro

My mother looks in horror at the compromise we made,
But the Mayor’s rueful smile says the piper must be paid!
I had a month of joy in heaven from this deal I’d made in hell.
What was to happen then my friend a prophet could not tell.

The day after his re-election and the victory celebration,
The Mayor takes his family on a month long foreign vacation.

Oh Sarah, you know how much I love you.
There is no one I’d ever place above you.
Oh Sarah, you don’t even know me.
To have you there’s nothing that’s below me.

The Mayor of Candor lied,
When he offered me his only daughter.
The Mayor of Candor tried,
To take her off across the water.
What a thing to do to a young man in love.
What a thing to do to your daughter.

Repeat intro

The day that they return I stand waiting on the road.
I watch the car drive up, I watch the passengers unload.
Of course she isn’t there. Of course, I should have known.
The Mayor says that she is staying. The decision is her own.

He said “She’s finishing her schooling on that unseen foreign shore.
And I’ll tell you very frankly, boy, you’ll not see her anymore!

The Mayor of Candor lied,
When he offered me his only daughter.
The Mayor of Candor tried,
To take her off across the water.
What a thing to do to a young man in love.
What a thing to do to your daughter.

Repeat intro

I spit out my hatred and my fury at his lies,
When he says you tried to blackmail me you’re just as bad as I!
He says — Go on and do your damndest boy, throw your mother to the streets!
You know it’s been too many years I had to be discreet.

And as he stands there saying we’re just two of a kind,
It hits me like a thunderbolt exploding in my mind.
As I look into his aged, wrinkled, mirror of my own face,
He laughs and sneers and says, Of course, dear son,

Where do you think you came from in the first place?

The Mayor of Candor lied,
When he offered me his only daughter.
The Mayor of Candor tried,
To take her off across the water.
What a thing to do to a young man in love.
What a thing to do to your daughter.

Strange Way Chords – Martyn Joseph

——————————————————————————-

Tabbed by: Rhys.J
Email: rhys.jenkins@hotmail.co.uk

Tuning: Standard (EADGBe)

This song sounds great when played acoustically. There are a lot of little
riffs he plays in the original which I haven’t tabbed, but most are
easy enough to figure out.

Intro – Cadd9 G Em7 G

Verse 1

Strange way to start a revolution
Strange way to get a better tan
Strange way to hold a power breakfast
Strange way show your business plan
Strange way to test if wood would splinter
Strange way to do performance art
Strange way to say “I’ll see you later”
Strange way to leave behind your heart

Chorus 1

Strange dissident of meekness

And nurse of tangled souls

It’s so unlike the holy

To end up full of holes, it’s a strange way

Intro – Cadd9 G Em7 G

Verse 2

Strange way to hang around for hours
Strange way to imitate a kite
Strange way to get a view of Auschwitz
Strange way to represent the light
Strange way to watch for stormy weather
Strange way to disprove gravity
Strange way to go about fund-raising
Strange way to sing I’m liberty

Chorus 2
( Tab from: http://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/m/martyn_joseph/strange_way_crd_ver_2.html )
Strange dissident of meekness

And nurse of tangled souls

It’s so unlike the holy

To end up full of holes, it’s a strange way

Intro – Cadd9 G Em7 G

Verse 3

Strange way to test for haemophillia
Strange way to spend a happy hour
Strange way to down a bitter cocktail
Strange way to merchandise your power
Strange way to reassure your mother
That’s a strange way to finish your world tour
Strange way to pose for countless paintings
And what a ridiculous way to gather in the poor

Chorus 3

Strange dissident of meekness

And nurse of tangled souls

It’s so unlike the holy

To end up full of holes

Bridge

Yeah this world is too much with us now

Could we not now just elope?

Strange way to hold us closer

Strange way to give us hope, it’s a strange way

Outro

Strange way
What a ridiculous way

Hold on the last Em7, then end on a G, and that’s all 🙂