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The Short Answer

Billy Bragg
Version1
90

Chords in this song

Strum
D-DU-UDU
 P1 (Main Pattern)  -
  P1
 Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary there was Mary
  P1
 Between the deep blue sea and the devil that was me
If  ever anyone  could help  me with my obsession  with
   P1
 The young Susannah York it was Mary
 In my pink pyjamas she asked me for something
 I gave her the short answer
 She read our stars out load
 And I knew then that we should have gone sailing
 But we stayed home instead
 Fighting on the waterbed
 Like the honeymoon couple on drugs
 Me and Mary
 What happened in the past
 Remained a mystery of natural history
 She should have been the last
 But she was just the latest
 If she wanted to be a farmer's wife
 I would endure that muddy life
 I would dig for victory
 And the sound of happy  couples
 Coupling happily  in the dark
 While you  and I sat down  to tea
 I remember you said to me
 That no  amount of poetry
 Would mend this broken heart
 But you  can put the Hoover round
 If you  want to make a start
 (verse pattern)
 All my friends from school
 Introduce me to their spouses
 While I'm left standing here
 With my hands down the front of my trousers
 I just don't know what's to be done
 I wonder sometimes how did Dad meet Mum
 And how did they conceive of me
 Tell me Mary
 The boys who came to the shop
 Always made her laugh much more than I did
 When I told her this must stop
 She didn't bat an eyelid
 She said you know honey it's such a shame
 You'll never be any good at this game
 You bruise too easily
 So said Mary
 Her two brothers took me out
 Of circulation for the duration
 So we went our separate ways but does she still love me
 She still has my door key
 Like a bully boy in a Benetton shop
 You're never happy with what you've got
 Till what you've got has gone
 Sorry Mary
 Finish
 "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the precipitate"
  - Steven Wright

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Readable chord sheet for The Short Answer by Billy Bragg

P1 (Main Pattern) [C] [C2] [Am] [G] - [C] [G] [C]

   P1
Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary there was Mary
   P1
Between the deep blue sea and the devil that was me
[G2]If ever a[A]nyone could hel[G2]p me with my o[G3]bsession with
   [G2]      [G3]       [A]            P1
The young Susannah York it was Mary

In my pink pyjamas she asked me for something
I gave her the short answer
She read our stars out load
And I knew then that we should have gone sailing
But we stayed home instead
Fighting on the waterbed
Like the honeymoon couple on drugs
Me and Mary

What happened in the past
Remained a mystery of natural history
She should have been the last
But she was just the latest
If she wanted to be a farmer's wife
I would endure that muddy life
I would dig for victory

And the sound of [Am]happy couples
Coupling [Em]happily in the dark
While [F]you and I sat [C]down to tea
I remember you said to me
That n[Am]o amount of poetry
Would mend this broken heart
But yo[G2]u can put the Hoover round
If you[Dm] want to make a start

(verse pattern)
All my friends from school
Introduce me to their spouses
While I'm left standing here
With my hands down the front of my trousers
I just don't know what's to be done
I wonder sometimes how did Dad meet Mum
And how did they conceive of me
Tell me Mary

The boys who came to the shop
Always made her laugh much more than I did
When I told her this must stop
She didn't bat an eyelid
She said you know honey it's such a shame
You'll never be any good at this game
You bruise too easily
So said Mary

Her two brothers took me out
Of circulation for the duration
So we went our separate ways but does she still love me
She still has my door key
Like a bully boy in a Benetton shop
You're never happy with what you've got
Till what you've got has gone
Sorry Mary

Finish [F] [G] [C]

"If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the precipitate"
                                                      - Steven Wright

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