Ordinary Man chords

Christy Moore

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Simplify chords 

  			(intro) F G Am F G C F G F G

              Am            G                   F                       Am
    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
    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
    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
    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 )