Todd Snider

Ballad Of The Devils Backbone Tavern

Todd Snider


Tom: G

 C               A                  D        G        C
Old Miss Virgy tended bar at this shack out in the hills
                        A             D7               G
It never made her any money boys but paid of all her bills
     C                                        F                    
Now she must have been 80 years old but her heart was warm
         D7
And her beer was cold
      C                      A
She gave away more than she ever sold
   D     G       C
Smiling all the time
 C                  A              D     G      C
I used to sing off in the corner every Friday night
                      A      D7                   G
To a loud crowd of cowboys, bikers and bar room fights
             C                               F                        D7
They were drinking beer, carrying on, not a one of them listening to one of my songs
     C              A
But old Miss Virgy sang along
               D       G       C
She said she knew 'em all by heart
     C                      A           D        G      C    
And then one night after closing she poured me another beer
                                A
She said "Come on over and sit down you little s**t
         D7                  G
I got something you need to hear"
           C                                  F                           D7                       
She said "Life ain't easy getting through everybody's gonna make things tough on you
           C                         A                           D    G        C
But I can tell you right now if you dig what you do, they will never get you down"

[Chorus]
           C                   A  
She said life's too short to worry
 D           G      C
Life's too long to wait
 C                 A
Too short not to love everybody
 D7                 G
Life's too long to hate
          C
I meet a lot of men who haggle and finagle all the time
   F                           D7
Trying to save a nickel maybe make a dime
 C      A          D        G       C
Not me, no sireee, I ain't got the time

[Verse]
    C                  A       D               G          C
Now I ain't seen Ol' Virgy in must have been about ten years
                     A                             D7                 G
I've been bumming around this country singing my songs for tips and beers
          C
Now the nights are long

The driving's tough
  F                   D7              
Hotels stink, and the pay sucks
    C                  A                  D    G        C
But I can't dig what I do enough, so it never gets be down

[Chorus]
        C                   A
I say life's too short to worry
 D           G      C
Life's too long to wait
                   A
Too short not to love everybody
 D7                 G
Life's too long to hate
          C 
I meet a lot of men who haggle and finagle all the time
  F                            D7
Trying to save a nickel maybe make a dime
 C       A         D        G       C
Not me, no sireee, I ain't got the time