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Martha

Tom Waits


Capo 1

 

Intro:  / D - A7 - / D - A7 - /

             / Bm - A - / G - - - /  (progression x2)

 

D    A7       D          A7            Bm         A      G

Operator, number, please: it's been so many years

        D       A7        D          A7    Bm    A                G

Will she remember my old voice while I fight the tears?

D            B7        Em      A7         D       B7        Em     A7

Hello, hello there, is this Martha? this is old Tom Frost,

      D       B7        Em           A7       Bm      A                G

And I am calling long distance, don't worry 'bout the cost.

          D            B7     Em        A7              D         B7      Em     A7

'Cause it's been forty years or more, now Martha please recall,

D             B7      Em   A7                 Bm    A       G

Meet me out for coffee, where we'll talk about it all.

 

Chorus:

          D                             G        D                G

And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose and Martha

Bm                G                     Em     A     D

All I had was you and all you had was me.

D                       G                    D                       G

There was no tomorrows, we'd packed away our sorrows

            Bm              G    Em  A     D

And we saved them for a rainy day.

 

/ D - A7 - / D - A7 - /

/ Bm - A - / G - - - / 

 

       D       A7        D          A7       Bm               A        G

And I feel so much older now, and you're much older too,

D                 A7                 D                A7                  Bm         A    

How's your husband? and how's the kids? you know that I got married

       G

too?

D         B7        Em           A7         D               B7       Em     A7

Lucky that you found someone to make you feel secure,

             D        B7      Em            A7       Bm      A         G

'Cause we were all so young and foolish, now we are mature.

 

Chorus

 

/ D - A7 - / D - A7 - /

/ Bm - A - / G - - - /  (progression x2)

 

       D       A7        D    A7           Bm          A      G

And I was always so impulsive, I guess that I still am,

       D          A7      D              A7       Bm A              G

And all that really mattered then was that I was a man.

    D            B7    Em      A7             D       B7          Em  A7

I guess that our being together was never meant to be.

         D      B7  Em    A7   Bm         A           G

And Martha,    Martha,   I love you can't you see?

 

Chorus

 

/ D - A7 - / D - A7 - /

/ Bm - A - / G - - - / 

 

       D     A7         D          A7    Bm            A         G

And I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you...


This file is the author's own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It's intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.