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WORD GAME- Stephen Stills
TUNING: D D D D A D (low to high)
(riff 4x)
Gsus (riff)
Would you knock a man down if you didn't like the cut of his clothes?
Gsus (riff)
Could you put a man away if you don't want to hear what he knows?
Gsus (riff)
Well, it's happening right here, people dying of fear by the droves
And I k[D2]now most of you either do[C]n't believe it's ture
Gsus Dm/F (riff)
Or else you don't know what to do, or maybe I'm singing about you who knows?
It's incredibly sick, you can feel it as across the land it flows
Prejudice is slick, when it's a word game it festers and grows
Move along quick, it furthers one to have somewhere to go
You can feel it as it's rumblin' let emotions keep a-tumblin'
Then, as cities start to crumblin' mostly empty bellies grumblin' here we go
(riff 4 times)
People see somebody different, fear is the first reaction shown
Then they think they've got him licked,
the barbaric hunt begins and they move in slow
A human spirit is devoured, the remains left to carrion crow
I was told that life is change and yet history remains
Does it always stay the same? Do we shrug it off and say only God knows
(riff 4 times)
By and by, somebody usually goes
Down to the ghetto, try and help, but they don't know why folks treat
them cold
And the rich keep getting richer, and the rest of us just keep getting old
You see, one must have a mission in order to be a good Christian
If you don't you will be missing High Mass or the evening show
And the well fed masters reap the harvests of the polluted seeds they've sown
Smug and self-righteous, they bch about people they owe
And you can't prove them wrong, they're so God damn sure they know
I have se[D2]en these things with my [C]very own eyes
And def[Gsus]ended my battered soul, it must be t[Dm/F]oo tough to die
A[D2]merican propaganda, South A[C]frican lies will not fo[Gsus]rce me to take up arms
That's my en[Dm/F]emy's pride
and I won't f[D2]ight by his rules, that's[C] foolishness besides
His ig[Gsus]norance is gonna do him in and n[Dm/F]obody's gonna cry
Because his ch[D2]ildren, they are growing up and p[C]lainly tired of putting up
Wi[Gsus]th bigots and their si[Dm/F]lver cups
D (riff 4 last time end
w/ A)
They're fed up, they might throw up on you, alright
CHORDS:
[D] [D2] [C] [F] [C2] [Gsus2] [Dm/F] [A]
D --0----7----5----3----x----0----0----x-----|
A --0----5----3----3----3----0----0----0-----|
D --0----0----0----0----x----0----0----x-----|
D --0----0----0----0----5----0----0----2-----|
D --0----0----0----0----0----5----3----0-----|
D --0----0----0----0----0----5----3----0-----|
RIFF:
[D2] [C] [F] [D]
D --7p5h7--5--3-------0-----|
A --5------3--3--3----0-----|
D --------------------------|
D ---------------5----------|
D --------------------------|
D --0--------------0-----0--|
NOTE: I didn't attempt to provide timing or total accuracy on the riff.
The important thing is to keep the bass note going while the other
strings are being played.
Also, the tuning can also be E E E E B E, as if a capo was
placed on the second fret. Between these two tunings, one can play the
other Stills songs 4+20, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, and We Are Not
Helpless.
(from Stephen Stills 2, 1971. Also on the CSN box set)
