G - G - G - G - A - A - A
We were the c[D]liche American [E]backpackers
[G]Standing on the side of the road in the r[D]ain
With our [E]cardboard sign [G]written in black sharpie
That read [D]Am-[A]ster-d[G]am
We were going to [D]Am-[A]ster-[G]dam
So we [D]weren't surprised by the l[E]ooks in the eyes
Of the [G]people in their cars when they passed us by
And they [D]gave us the middle [E]finger
Or the [G]thumbs up or thumbs down
But [D]we stayed tough, we [E]stood our ground
g
And by the end of the afternoon
We got [D]dropped off in the [E]middle of this [G]town
Now [A]everyone will tell you 'bout the [G]coffee shops
And [A]everyone will tell you 'bout the [G]red-light district
But some[A]how up to now it seems they [G]all forgot to mention
The [D]millions of bikes locked to the [A]millions of bridges
That [G]arch up like rainbows to cross the city's millions of [D]canls
That run down every [A]street with the houseboats nice and [G]neat
And the [G]buildings lean so much you think that they might fall [D]down
Like the rain[A] that day that drove us to a stoop
Ya [G]gotta feel sorry for all the hippies
That came here in the '[D]60s
Now they don't know who they [A]are
We watched one of them playin' [G]flute
He was tryin' to earn some change
We had spent all of our [Bm]money for that [G]day
We grew [Bm]hungry and the rain just [G]came and came
And [Bm]oh how I wished I had [G]some of those fries
That the [Bm]people were eating when they [G]passed us by
And I [A]closed my eyes for a [G]minute or two
I [A]opened them up when I [G]got a nudge from you
[A]There was the hippie, the [G]one with the flute,
[A]And holding in his hands was my [G]wish come true
And he [D]handed me the whole [G]thing
And this [A]whole interaction felt was more like a [G]dream
He was [D]readin' my mind it [G]seemed
Like a [A]genie granting wishes for people on the [G]street
And we [D]never could have thanked him [G]enough
I [A]don't know if he knew how much it [G]meant to us
And [D]that night in a tent we [A]counted all our money
And we [G]figured out how long we could [D]stay
The [D]way it looked to me we could [A]live here forever
[G]Sleep in the campground, eat fal[D]afel every day
But that's [Bm]not what we came here to [A]do
We had [D]so much more left to [G]see
And [D]though this place felt so [A]nice
We [G]made our plans to [D]leave
And we went to this park where they had free bikes at the gate
Spent the day riding through the trees and it felt great
We were offered a place to stay on the floor of someone's office
But we chose to sleep beside the interstate
And the [D]sounds of the cars passing [G]by
[D]Put us right to [G]sleep
[D]Nothin' beats layin' right under the [G]stars
And I [D]always feel safe when you're [A]sleepin' beside [D]me
We were the c[D]liche American [E]backpackers
[G]Standing on the side of the road in the r[D]ain
With our [E]cardboard sign [G]written in black sharpie
That read [D]Am-[A]ster-d[G]am
We were going to [D]Am-[A]ster-[G]dam
So we [D]weren't surprised by the l[E]ooks in the eyes
Of the [G]people in their cars when they passed us by
And they [D]gave us the middle [E]finger
Or the [G]thumbs up or thumbs down
But [D]we stayed tough, we [E]stood our ground
g
And by the end of the afternoon
We got [D]dropped off in the [E]middle of this [G]town
Now [A]everyone will tell you 'bout the [G]coffee shops
And [A]everyone will tell you 'bout the [G]red-light district
But some[A]how up to now it seems they [G]all forgot to mention
The [D]millions of bikes locked to the [A]millions of bridges
That [G]arch up like rainbows to cross the city's millions of [D]canls
That run down every [A]street with the houseboats nice and [G]neat
And the [G]buildings lean so much you think that they might fall [D]down
Like the rain[A] that day that drove us to a stoop
Ya [G]gotta feel sorry for all the hippies
That came here in the '[D]60s
Now they don't know who they [A]are
We watched one of them playin' [G]flute
He was tryin' to earn some change
We had spent all of our [Bm]money for that [G]day
We grew [Bm]hungry and the rain just [G]came and came
And [Bm]oh how I wished I had [G]some of those fries
That the [Bm]people were eating when they [G]passed us by
And I [A]closed my eyes for a [G]minute or two
I [A]opened them up when I [G]got a nudge from you
[A]There was the hippie, the [G]one with the flute,
[A]And holding in his hands was my [G]wish come true
And he [D]handed me the whole [G]thing
And this [A]whole interaction felt was more like a [G]dream
He was [D]readin' my mind it [G]seemed
Like a [A]genie granting wishes for people on the [G]street
And we [D]never could have thanked him [G]enough
I [A]don't know if he knew how much it [G]meant to us
And [D]that night in a tent we [A]counted all our money
And we [G]figured out how long we could [D]stay
The [D]way it looked to me we could [A]live here forever
[G]Sleep in the campground, eat fal[D]afel every day
But that's [Bm]not what we came here to [A]do
We had [D]so much more left to [G]see
And [D]though this place felt so [A]nice
We [G]made our plans to [D]leave
And we went to this park where they had free bikes at the gate
Spent the day riding through the trees and it felt great
We were offered a place to stay on the floor of someone's office
But we chose to sleep beside the interstate
And the [D]sounds of the cars passing [G]by
[D]Put us right to [G]sleep
[D]Nothin' beats layin' right under the [G]stars
And I [D]always feel safe when you're [A]sleepin' beside [D]me
