Better Things to Do Terri Clark
TERRI CLARK -- BETTER THINGS TO DO
Written by Terri Clark, Tom Shapiro, and Chris Waters.
Copyright 1995, Great Cumberland Music/Diamond Struck Music/Tom Shapiro
Music/Sony Tree Publishing.
>From Terri Clark's self-titled debut CD - 1995 Mercury-Nashville/Polygram.
***Key of Bb. Capo 3rd fret and play in key of G.***
Intro: |G |
|G | | |
Don't tell me the reason that you're callin'
|C | |G |
Is to see if I'm all right since you been gone,
|D | |G |
Cause I know you and I know why we're talkin';
|C | |D |
You're wantin me to say I'm barely hangin' on.
|C |D |C |D
Well, maybe that was true, for a night or two,
|C |D |G |
But now, I've got better things to do. ...I could:
|C | | | |G
...Wash my car in the rain, change my new guitar strings;
|G | | |C
Mow the yard just the same, as I did yesterday.
|C |G | |D |
I don't need to waste my time, crying over you;
|C |D |G | | |
...I've got better things to do.
|G | | |
Maybe when I don't have so much goin'
|C | |G |
Or quite so many irons in the fire,
|C | |G |
I'll take the time to miss you like you're hoping,
|C | |D |
But now I can't put forth the effort it requires.
|C |D |C |D
I'd love to talk to you, but then I'd miss Donahue.
|C |D |G |
That's right, I've got better things to do. ...I could:
|C | | | |G
...Wash my car in the rain, change my new guitar strings;
|G | | |C
Mow the yard just the same, as I did yesterday.
|C |G | |D |
I don't need to waste my time, crying over you;
|C |D
...I've got better things to...
|C |C | | |G
do. Check the air in my tires, straighten my stereo wires,
|G | | |C
Count the stars in the sky or just get on with my life
|C |G | |D |
I don't need to waste my time, crying over you;
|C |D |G
...I've got better things to do.
|C |D |G | | |
...I've got better things to do.
*********************************************************
The rhythm played with the right hand is a standard country shuffle, but the
left hand bounces between variations of the chords in the chart above. Here
are examples of how you can play it:
|1&2&3&4& || |1&2&3&4& |1&2&3&4& ||
|\ \/ \/\ || or |\ \/ \/\ |\ \/ \/\ ||
| * ** || | * * | * ||
\ is a downstrum, / is an upstrum, * is point where you hit the variant chord.
It's not a rigid pattern, just bounce between chords whatever feels natural
to you.
I can't decipher all the chord variations Terri plays,
but here are the basics which will get you through the song:
Where it says G, bounce between these fingerings:
320003 - G major
302003 - G major 6th add the 9th (no fifth with this fingering)
(Your middle finger is bouncing between the 2nd and 3rd strings)
Where it says C, bounce between these fingerings:
x32013 - C major
x30213 - C major 6th add the 9th (no fifth with this fingering)
(Similar to the G variation, but now your middle finger is bouncing between
the 3rd and 4th strings. The pinky on the 6th string/3rd fret is optional,
but Terri plays it that way on the video and it's already there for the
G chords anyway.)
Where it says D, bounce between these fingerings:
xxo232 - D major
xxo432 - D major 6th (also happens to be Bm/D)
(Just hold the D pattern and bounce your pinky off the
3rd string/4th fret. You can add an open fifth string if you like.)
If you want to get even fancier, I know Terri starts some of the bars with a
G6/E (020003 - this also happens to be an Em7) on the first beat, followed
by the G6+9 on the second beat. You could extrapolate from that and assume
that some of the bars start with C6/A (x02013 - which is also an Am7) and
D6/B (x24232 - aka Bm7), but don't blame me if your fingers start bleeding
from trying to play it.
If you're at a loss to figure out where all your fingers are going, here are
the charts. I've based this mostly on how Terri plays it in the video, but
I can't see any of her D chords. I, M, R, and P, stand for index, middle,
ring, and pinky fingers.
[G] [G6/E] [G6+9]
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
1 |- - - - - -| |- - - - - -| |- - - - - -| 2 |- M - - - -| |- M - - - -| |- - M - - -| 3 |R - - - - P| |- - - - - P| |R - - - - P| 4 |- - - - - -| |- - - - - -| |- - - - - -|
g b d g b g e b d g b g g a e g b g
[C] [C6/A] [C6+9]
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
1 |x - - - I -| |x - - - I -| |x - - - I -| 2 |x - M - - -| |x - M - - -| |x - - M - -| 3 |x R - - - P| |x - - - - P| |x R - - - P| 4 |x - - - - -| |x - - - - -| |x - - - - -|
c e g c g a e g c g c d a c g
Pinky on 6/3 is optional. You can play the 6th string open.
[D] [D6/B] [D6]
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
1 |x - - - - -| |x - - - - -| |x - - - - -| 2 |x - - I - M| |x I I I I I| |x - - I - M| 3 |x - - - R -| |x - - - M -| |x - - - R -| 4 |x - - - - -| |x - R - - -| |x - - P - -| 5 |x - - - - -| |x - - - - -| |x - - - - -|
a d a d f# b f#a d f# a d b d f#
Second string can be played open, or not played at all.
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