Mr. Tanner
Harry ChapinVersion1
90
Chords in this song
Strum
D-DU-UDU
Mister Tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Mid
west
And of all the cleaning shops around hed made his the
best
But he also was a baritone who sang while hanging
clothes
He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local
shows
His friends and neighbors praised the voice that poured out
from his throat
They said that he should use his gift in stead of cleaning
coats
But music was his life, it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so
good
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his
soul
He did not know how well he sang, it just made him
whole
His friends kept working on him to try music out full
time
A big debut and rave reviews a great career to
climb
Finally they got to him he would take the fling
A concert agent in New York agreed to have him sing
And there were plane tickets, phone calls, money spent to
rent the hall
It took most of his savings but he gladly used them all
But music was his life, it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so
good
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his
soul
He did not know how well he sang, it just made him
whole
The evening came he took the stage his face set in a
smile
And in the half filled hall the critics sat watching
on the aisle
But the concert was a blur to him spatters of applause
He did not know how well he sang, he only heard the
flaws
But the critics were concise, it only took four lines
But no one could accuse them of being overkind
(spoken) Mr Martin Tanner, Baritone, of Dayton Ohio
Made his Town Hall debut last night. He came well
prepared
But unfortunately his presentation was not up to contemporary
Professional standards. His voice lacks the range of
tonal color
Necessary to make it consistently interesting
Full time consideration of an other endeavor might be in
order
- - - - - - /]
He came back home to Dayton and was questioned by his
friends
Then he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang
again
Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and
closed
He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes
- Music was his life, it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy, it made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his
soul
And he did not know how well he sang
It just made him whole
Ken Reynolds
Source: Songsterr · Rights holder? Request removal.
Readable chord sheet for Mr. Tanner by Harry Chapin
Mister [G] Tanner was a [G/f] cleaner from a [Em] town in the Mid [G/D] west And of [G] all the cleaning [G/f] shops around [Em] hed made his the [D] best But he [C] also was a [Bb] baritone who [Am7] sang while hanging [G] clothes He practiced scales while [G/f] pressing tails and [Em] sang at local [D] shows His [Em] friends and neighbors praised the voice that [D] poured out from his throat They [Em] said that he should use his gift in [D] stead of cleaning coats [G] But [Bm] music was his life, it was [Am7] not his livelihood And it [Em] made him feel so happy and it [G/d] made him feel so [D/C] good And he [G/b] sang from his heart [C] and he [G/d] sang from his [D] soul He [G] did not know how [C] well he sang, [G] it just [C] made him [G] whole His [G] friends kept working [G/f] on him to try [Em] music out full [G/D] time A [G] big debut and [G/f] rave reviews a [Em] great career to [D] climb [C] Finally they [Bb] got to him [Am7] he would take the fling [G] A concert agent [G/f] in New York [Em] agreed to have him [D] sing And there were [Em] plane tickets, phone calls, [D] money spent to rent the hall It [Em] took most of his savings but he [D] gladly used them all [G] But [Bm] music was his life, it was [Am7] not his livelihood And it [Em] made him feel so happy and it [G/d] made him feel so [D/C] good And he [G/b] sang from his heart [C] and he [G/d] sang from his [D] soul He [G] did not know how [C] well he sang, [G] it just [C] made him [G] whole The [G] evening came he [G/f] took the stage his [Em] face set in a [G/D] smile And in the [G] half filled hall the [G/f] critics sat [Em] watching on the [D] aisle But the [C] concert was a [Bb] blur to him [Am7] spatters of applause [G] He did not know how [G/f] well he sang, he [Em] only heard the [D] flaws But the [Em] critics were concise, it [D] only took four lines But [Em] no one could accuse them of [D] being overkind (spoken) [G] Mr Martin Tanner, Baritone, of [G/f] Dayton Ohio Made his Town Hall [Eb] debut last night. He came well [G/d] prepared But unfortunately his presentation [C] was not up to contemporary Professional [Bb] standards. His voice lacks the [Abmaj7] range of tonal color Necessary to make it consistently [G] interesting [C] Full time consideration of an [Bb] other endeavor might be in [G] order [G/F] - [Em] - [G/D] - [G] - [G/F] - [Em] - [[G]/[D]] [G] He came back home to [G/f] Dayton and was [Em] questioned by his friends [G] Then he [G] smiled and just said [G/f] nothing and he [Em] never sang [D] again [C] Excepting very late [Bb] at night when the [Am] shop was dark and [G] closed He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the [D] clothes [G] - [Bm] Music was his life, it was not [Am7] his livelihood And it [Em] made him feel so happy, it [G] made him feel so [D] good And he [G/b] sang from his [C] heart and he [G] sang from his [D] soul And he [G] did not know how [C] well he sang [Bb] It just [Abmaj7] made him [G] whole Ken Reynolds