Ordinary man    (video)    (intro)    (sample)

 

    F - G - Am       - F - G - C     - F - G - F - G

 

              Am            G                   F                       Am

1. I'm an ordinary man, nothing special, nothing grand,

            F                      G                Am

    I've had to work for everything I own.

       Am                       G             F                           Am

    I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I'd got,

         F                         G                    Am

    enough to keep my family and my home.

                      F                           G                         C                     Am

    Now they say that times are hard and they've handed me my cards,

             F                                                E

    they say there's not the work to go around.

             Am                       G              F                       Am

    And when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close,

        F                                  G                     Am

    tonight they're going to shut this factory down,

                                F - G - Am     - F - G - Am

    then they'll tear it do……..wn.

 

      Am                      G                         F                    Am

2. I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay,

             F                   G                          Am

    for twenty years I served them best I could,

                      Am                          G                            F             Am

    now with a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget,

      F                            G                                  Am

    loyalty through the bad times and through good.

             F                        G                       C                         Am

    The owner says he's sad to see that things have got so bad,

                 F                                                   E

    but the captains of industry won't let him lose.

          Am               G              F               Am

    He still drives a car and smokes his cigar,

             F                       G                 Am                

    and still he takes his family on a cruise,

                      F - G - Am      - F - G - Am

    he'll never lo……....se.

 

                Am          G                 F        Am

3. Now it seems to me such a cruel irony,

            F                        G                    Am

    he's richer now than ever he was before.

 

 

 

 

     Am                            G             F                     Am

    Now my cheque is spent and I can't afford the rent,

                  F                     G                       Am

    there's one law for the rich, one for the poor.

      F                     G                       C                Am

    Every day I've tried to salvage some of my pride,

          F                                                       E

    to find some work so's I might pay my way.

                 Am                G          F                         Am

    Oh, but everywhere I go, the answer's always ”No !”

                F                  G                    Am

    there's no work for anyone here today,

                      F - G - Am      - F - G - F - G

    no work tod……..…ay.“

 

           Am                        G                   F           Am

4. And so condemned I stand, just an ordinary man,

               F                G                        Am

    like thousands beside me in the queue.

      Am                         G                   F                      Am

    I watch my darling wife trying to make the best of life,

              F                             G                       Am

    and God knows what the kids are going to do.

       F                       G        C                      Am

    Now that we are faced with this human waste,

         F                         E

    a generation cast aside.

                Am           G       F                 Am

    For as long as I live, I never will forgive,

                  F                          G                Am

    you've stripped me of my dignity and pride.

 

                                    F - G - Am           + F - G - Am (2x)

    You've stripped me ba……...re. (3x)        

 

+ F - G - C         - F - E       - Am  - G - F - Am        - F - G - Am

 

    (Christy Moore)