Capo: 1

Ballad of a Lonely Man Capo 1 This is an acoustic version that Ness often played often during radio station interviews during his ?Cheating At Solitaire? tour.Capo the 1st fret, and this chord chart is 100% accurate The trick to playing this song acoustically is to capture Mike's (very fast) version of Johnny Cash's strumming style ============================================================= VERSE 1

^GI'm young ^Cand I'm strong^G, I've got this^D God forsaken ^Cworld by the b^Galls. I've got a^D one-way ^Cticket to free^Gdom Ain't no one n^Dow, gonna take it from ^Gme

VERSE 2

^GI was a soldier, ^Cage twenty-o^Gne In a ^Dwar not^C sure what I was fighting f^Gor And yet I ^Dturned from a ^Cboy to a man th^Gere Goodbye to innocence, ^Dand a sweet sixte^Gen

NOTE: To get a smooth flow entering the chorus, walk down from G to Em: Strum the G chord, then Pick 6th String 3rd Fret, then 6th String 2nd Fret, then strum the Em chord.) CHORUS:

^EmMy whole ^Clife, I ^Gcould not ^Darrange ^EmMy wicked ^Cways, ^GI could never ^Dchange ^EmDon't try, don't ^Ctry now,^D to understa^Gnd

This is the ballad,^D of a lonely ^Gman VERSE 3

^GClose to me, ^Cis a photogr^Gaph Of a ^Dfamily left far,^C far behi^Gnd Ah, once I^D had love, it s^Clipped away f^Grom I searched a li^Dfetime, but I could not f^Gind

VERSE 4

^GIn a hospital bed, I'm violently ill Just one more drink nurse I swear to God

I've got my St. Anthony and my whiskey Yes I'm a veteran of three foreign wars. CHORUS Play the chorus once, then, after ?Don?t try, don?t try now, to understand.? repeat last line of chorus three more times:

^GThis is the ballad,^D of a lonely m^Gan, ^GThis is ballad, ^Dof a lonely ^Gman, ^GThis is the ballad, ^Dof a lone-ly m^Gan

G-D-G Finish with a hard strum on G. Enjoy. Lowell

Mike Ness - Ballad of a lonely man acoustic