#
From: dsb@osustat.mps.ohio-state.edu (David S. Blumenthal)

Stranger With The Melodies                         Harry Chapin
As recorded (approximately :) ) on Legends of the Lost and Found

Information:
TAB:  one space equals one eigth note


main pattern repeats through out song (note variations at end of choruses):
 D                 D/G               D/E               D/A
e|----3---|2---0---|----3---|2---0---|----3---|2---0---|----3---|2---0---|
B|--3---3-|--2---3-|--3---3-|--2---3-|--3---3-|--2---3-|--3---3-|--2---3-|
G|-2-2-2-2|-3-3-2-2|-2-2-2-2|-3-3-2-2|-2-2-2-2|-3-3-2-2|-2-2-2-2|-3-3-2-2|
D|0-------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
A|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|0-------|--------|
E|--------|--------|3-------|----(2)-|0-------|--------|--------|--------|

end of verse progression:
     A             A7            A6            A
E A D G B e   E A D G B e   E A D G B e   E A D G B e
o-o-------o   o-o--------   o-o--------   o-o-------o
| | | | | |   | | | | | |   | | | | | |   | | | | | |
| | 2 2 2 |   | | 2 2 2 |   | | 2 2 2 2   | | 2 2 2 |
| | | | | |   | | | | | 3   | | | | | |   | | | | | |
| | | | | |   | | | | | |   | | | | | |   | | | | | |

other verse pattern (I don't know the pick pattern, so I just strum these):
Bm  F   Am  Em
F   Em  G   A   A7  A6  A

last chord:
     D (final)
E A D G B e
x o o
| | | | | |
| | | 7 7 |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | 10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INTRO:
D   D/G  D/E  D/A
D   D/G  D/E  D/A

          D
It was my first night in that roomin' house,
       D/G
in the last room down the hall.
          D/E
I heard a hoarse voice, and an old guitar,
D/A
comin' through the paper thin walls.
D
  A crazy nonsense nursery rhyme,
   D/G
it did not mean a thing.
            D/E
But for the first of what was to be a thousand times,
D/A
this is what I heard him sing.

CHORUS:
                D
     Hold that "D" chord on the old guitar,
     D/G
         'till I find the "G."
             D/E
     Drop it down to old "E" minor,
                D/A                                 D      D/A
     'till the "A" chord rolls back home around to "D."


  D                              D/G
I had to lay there listening, it seemed he was in the room.
    D/E                         D/A
The stranger with the melodies, singin' there in the gloom.
       Bm                                      F
And he repeated it over and over again, such a soft and sinking sound.
       Am                                Em
It was kind of like a music box that was slowly windin' down.
       F                         Em
And he sang it, he hummed it, he whistled it, and he strummed it.
   G                                    A                       A   A7  A6
He laughed it, and he cried it.  He did anything but hide it.

CHORUS:
     A          D
     Hold that "D" chord on the old guitar,
     D/G
         'till I find the "G."
             D/E
     Drop it down to old "E" minor,
                D/A                                D      D/A
     'till the "A" chord rolls back home around to me.


     D                                    D/G
So I lay there in that lumpy bed, counted choruses instead of sheep,
        D/E                                       D/A
'till I banged on the wall and out I called, "Hey bub, I need some sleep."
(D) (stop pattern, just base)      (G)
   A sudden void of silence, then I heard that hoarse voice say,
(E)                            (A)              D (resume pattern) D/A
  "It weren't so long ago, boy, they paid me to play.
     D                                             D/G
So I said, "It's kind of late for music, sir.  Two hours 'till it's daylight."
   D/E                                      D/A
He answered, "I need my music most in these dark hours of the night.
             Bm                                       F
You see I've tried gettin' high on somethin', son; it only brings me down.
        Am                                        Em
Stayin' dry don't work out better, boy, 'cause my eyes get wet and I drown.
          F                           Em
Won't you please let me continue, and I'll be in your debt.
            G                                       A            A      A7  A6
You see I'm not singin' to remember, son.  I'm just   singin' to forget.

CHORUS:
     A          D
     Hold that "D" chord on the old guitar,
     D/G
         'till I find the "G."
             D/E
     Drop it down to old "E" minor,
                D/A                                D   D(strum) D(strum) A
     'till the "A" chord rolls back home around to me.


              C                        G
That's when I said, if I'm supposed to listen to you, sir,
C                   G
one quick question, then.
F                      C              A
Why in the hell do you sing one song, over and over again?

(spoken) And this is what he said.

D   D   D                             D/G
          I gave her the music, son.  She gave me the words.
  D/E                                      D/A
Together we'd write the kinds of songs the angels must have heard.
   D                                      D/G
Of course, we'd fight like cats and dogs; life ain't no rosebud dream.
             D/E                                     D/A
Still, where ever we'd go, everybody'd know, we were truly a team.
          D                                       D/G
I can't remember now if I'd done her wrong, or if she'd done wrong to me.
       D/E                                 D/A
Still, all I know is when I let her go, it did not set me free.
              Bm
That's when I said, "You sound like what's-his-name."
   F
He said, "That's who I am.
        Am
But you can't wrap a name around you boy,
          Em
'cause it really don't mean a damn.
           F                                   Em
You see, a song don't have no meanin', when it don't have nothin' to say.
     G                                 A           A    A7  A6   A
What she could do was magic, son.  All I can do is play.
           D
He started singin' again, that's when I drifted off,
    D/G
and maybe I'd dreamed what I'd heard,
          D/E
about the stranger with the melodies,
      D/A
who'd gone and lost the words.

CHORUS:
                D
     Hold that "D" chord on the old guitar,
     D/G
         'till I find the "G."
             D/E
     Drop it down to old "E" minor,
                D/A                                 D      D(final)
     'till the "A" chord rolls back home around to "D."


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|     _/_/_/     _/   _/ _/ _/_/_/ | Dave Blumenthal                  |
|    _/   _/  _/  _/ _/ _/ _/      | dsb@osustat.mps.ohio-state.edu   |
|   _/    _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/     | The Ohio State University        |
|  _/   _/  _/  _/ _/_/  _/        | Statistical Computing Laboratory |
| _/_/_/   _/  _/  _/   _/_/_/     | (614) 292-5535                   |
------ There is a fine difference between insight and insanity. -------