Pity the child
E
A
1. When I was nine I learned survival, taught myself not to care,
F#
Bm
I was my single good
companion, taking my comfort there.
G C
Up in my room I planned my
conquests,
D Bm G C
on my own, never asked for a
helping hand,
D G
no one would understand.
E
Am
I never asked the pair who
fought below,
Am - Cm - G
just in case they said “no”.
E
A
2. Pity the child who has ambition, knows what
he wants to do,
F# Bm
knows that he'll never fit the
system others expect him to.
G C
Pity the child
who knew his parents,
D Bm G C
saw their faults,
saw their love die before his eyes,
D G
pity the child that’s wise.
E
Am
He never asked, did I cause
your distress,
Am - Cm
just in case they said “yes”.
G F
When I was twelve my father
moved out,
C
left with a
whimper not with a shout.
G F
I didn't miss him, he made it perfectly clear,
C
I was a fool, and probably
queer.
Cm
Fool that I was, I thought
this would bring
F Cm
those he had left closer
together.
G
She made her move the moment
he crawled away,
Am Cm G Am Cm
G
I was the last the woman told, she never let her bed get cold,
Am Cm
G
someone moved in, I shut my
door,
Am Cm G
someone to treat
her just the same way as before.
E A
3. I took the road of least resistance, I had
my game to play,
F#
Bm
I had the skill, and more -
the hunger - easy to get away.
G C
Pity the child with no such
weapons,
D Bm G C
no defense,
no escape from the ties that bind,
D G
always a
step behind.
E Am
I never called to tell her all
I'd done,
Am - Cm ~ F - Cm - G
I was only her son.
E A
4. Pity the child, but not forever, not if he stays that way,
F#
Bm
he can get all he ever wanted,
if he's prepared to pay.
G C
Pity instead the careless
mother,
D Bm G
C
what she missed, what she lost
when she let me go,
D Bm - E
and I wonder, does she know ?
E7
Am
I wouldn't call, a crazy thing
to do,
- Am Cm
+ G - F - C - G (3x)
just in case she said, who?
(orig. = capo 3rd) (from
“CHESS”)