The Winner Bobby Bare
The hulk of a ma[C]n with a beer in is hand
[G]Looked like a drunk old fool
And I knew if I hit him right
Why I could[C] knock him off-a that stool
But ever'body they said Watch out,
Hey, that's[F] Tiger Man McCool
He's had a[G] whole lot of fights
And he's always come out a [C]winner
[G]Yea!, he's a[C] winner.
[C]But I'd had myself about five too many
[G]And I walked up tall and proud
I faced his back and I faced the fact
That he had n[C]ever stooped or bowed
I said, Tiger Man, you're a pussycat
And a h[F]ush fell on the crowd
I said let's [G]you and me go outside and see
Who's a w[C]inner.
[C]Well, he gripped the bar with one big hairy hand
[G]And he braced against the wall
He slowly looked up from his beer
My G[C]od, that man was tall
He said boy, I see you're a scr*pper
So just before you f[F]all
I'm gonna [G]tell you just a little
'Bout what it means to be a [C]winner.
[C]He said Now you see these bright white smiling teeth
[G]You know they ain't my own
Mine rolled away like chiclets
Down the [C]street in San Antone
But I left that person, cursin'
Nursin' seven broken bon[F]es
And he, uh, only broke, uh, [G]three of mine
That makes me the [C]winner.
[C]He said Now behind this grin, I got steel pins
[G]That holds my jaw in place
A trophy of my most successful
Mot[C]orcycle race
And each morning when I wake and touch
This s[F]car across my face
It re[G]minds me of all I got
by being a [C]winner.
[C]Now this broken back was a dying act
[G]Of a handsome Harry Clay
That sticky Cincinnati night
I st[C]ole his wife away
But that woman she gets uglier
And she gets m[F]eaner every day
But I [G]got her, boy
that's what makes me a w[C]inner
Change to ...(D)
[D]He said You gotta speak loud when you challenge me son
'Cause it's[A] hard for me to hear
With this twisted neck and these migrane pains
And this [D]big old cauliflower ear
And if it wasn't for this glass eye of mine
Why, I'd [G]shed a happy tear
To [A]think of all you're gonna get
By being a[D] winner.
[D]I got ar-th-rit-ic elbows, son
I got di[A]slocated knees
From pickin' fights with thunderstorms
And c[D]hargin' into trees
And my nose's been broke so often
I might [G]lose it if I sneeze
And s[A]on, you say you
still wanna be a [D]winner.
[D]Now you remind me a lot of my younger days
With your kn[A]uckles a-clenchin' white
But boy, I'm gonna sit right here
And s[D]ip this beer all night
And if there's somethin' that you gotta gain or prove
by w[G]innin' some silly fight
Well, [A]OK, I quit, I lose
You're the w[D]inner.
[D]Oh, I stumbled from that barroom
Not so [A]tall and not so proud
And behind me I still hear
the ho[D]ots and laughter of the crowd
But my eyes still see and my nose still works
And my [G]teeth are still in my mouth
And you [A]know, I guess that
Makes me the [D]winner.
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