Harry Chapin

I Wanna Learn A Love Song

Harry Chapin


Tom: G

Dm7/G    3x0211
Em       022000


[Intro]
G G6 G   x4

[Verse 1]
       Am7
I come fresh from the street,
D7               C     Am7      G
fast on my feet, kinda lean and lazy; (OR kinda crass and corny - live version)
         Am7                     D7
not much meat on my bones, and a whole lot alone,
    C           Am7        G
and more than a little bit crazy. (OR more than a little bit horny)
    Dm7/G              C
The old six string was all I had
   Am7                Em
to keep my belly still,
        Am7            D7
and for each full hour lesson I gave
        C         Am7    G
I got a crisp ten dollar bill.

[Verse 2]
Am7                 D7
She was married for seven years
     C        Am7    G
to a concrete castle king.
             Am7                D7
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
       C        Am7      G
and to hear her children sing.
   Dm7/G             C
So I'd show up about once a week
      Am7                Em
in my faded tight-legged jeans
       Am7             D7
with a backlog full of hobo stories
      C   Am7   G
and dilapidated dreams.

[Chorus]
         G                          Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
         D                                      C
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
            G                       Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
            D                          C       Am7  G
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."

[Verse 3]
     Am7                   D7
So I tried to teach her a couple of chords
        C   Am7 G
and an easy melody;
         Am7                   D7
but it always turned out she'd rather listen
   C     Am7     G
to my guitar and me.
        Dm7/G            C
I could hear her old man laughing in the den,
Am7                         Em
playing stud poker with the boys
        Am7                 D7
while I sang so soft in the living room,
    C         Am7       G
too scared to make much noise.

[Verse 4]
  Am7                   D7
I came one week and the den was dark
        C      Am7    G
and she met me at the door.
       Am7                     D7
And we sat on the couch and we sang and talked
       C         Am7     G
'til I could not sing no more.
    Dm7/G           G
The silence kept on building,
    Am7                Em
her eyes grew much too wide;
            Am7              D7
and I could hear both of our heartbeats,
          C
but there was no place to hide.

[Chorus]
         G                          Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
         D                                      C
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
            G                       Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
            D                          C       Am7  G
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."

[Verse 5]
        Am7                 D7
Well, I guess you know what happened,
C            Am7     G
God, I never been so clean.
       Am7                        D7
Yes, I feel like I'm working in a Hollywood movie
   C            Am7      G
or living out a good bad dream.
             Dm7/G               G
And all them pinup girls in that tinsel world
      Am7                 Em
never touched me like she can;
         Am7                      D7
it took another man's wife in the real world life
   C
to make this boy a man.

[Chorus]
         G                          Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things."
         D                                      C
She said, "I wanna learn a love song; won't you let me hear you sing?"
            G                       Am7
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play."
            D                          C       Am7  G
She said, "I wanna learn a love song before you go away."
  C         Am7     G         C     Am7  G
(let ring out)
I guess you know I stayed.    (ooh, ooh, ooh)