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ONLY IN AMERICA Jay and The Americans

[E] [D] [E] [D] Verse 1:

O[E]nly in Am[D]erica

C[E]an a guy from a[D]nywhere

[E]Go to sleep a p[D]auper and w[E]ake up a millionaire

[A]Only in Am[G]erica

[A]Can a kid witho[G]ut a cent

[A]Get a break and m[G]aybe grow [A]up to be President

Chorus:

[D]Only in A[A/C#]merica

L[D]and of oppo[A/C#]rtunity

Bm F#m G A (1: B 2: E, to coda)

Would a classy girl like you fall for a poor boy like me

Verse 2:

Only in America

Can a kid who's washing cars

Take a giant step and reach right up and touch the stars

Only in America

Could a dream like this come true

C[A]ould a guy like [G]me start with n[A]othing and e[B]nd up with y[E]ou

Instrumental break:

(chords as per Verse 1)

(repeat chorus)

Coda:

(O[E]nly in Am[D]erica) Poor boy like [E]me

(Only in America) Poor boy like me

(Only in America) Only in America (repeat to fade)

-- another ace 60's tab from Andrew Rogers

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ONLY IN AMERICA

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{t:ONLY IN AMERICA}
{st:Jay and The Americans}

#style="COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 11px;">the liner notes to _The Brill Building Sound_:
#
#    At the height of the civil rights furor, Barry Mann wrote a song for
#  the Drifters, one he felt strongly about since it incorporated a lot of
#  personal feelings in lyrics such as 'Only in America / Land of
#  opportunity / Can they save a seat in the back of the bus just for me /
#  Only in America / Where they preach the Golden Rule / Will they start to
#  march when my kids want to go to school'.  To Mann's dismay, Leiber &
#  Stoller told him to rewrite it along less controversial lines.  'They
#  said there's no way the Drifters could do this song,' he recalls.  'No
#  one would play it'.  At this point, record sales mattered less to him
#  than voicing his message, but out of respect to Leiber & Stoller he went
#  ahead and turned the song into this flag-waving anthem.  Stoller later
#  told the authors of _Behind The Hits_ that the Drifters were afraid of
#  recording the revamped version.  'They thought they'd get too much flak.
#  It would be too controversial.  We felt it would make a strong ironic
#  statement -- that it would be more effective -- four black guys singing
#  aoubt what was obviously *not* taking place.'
#
#    Resigned to the fact that the song was more suited to a whitebread pop
#  group, Leiber & Stoller brought it to Jay & The Americans (some sources
#  indicate that they used the same backing track).  It came out as the
#  follow-up to their first hit, 'She Cried'.  A decade later, Mann
#  confessed, 'It just makes me cry now.  It would've been a more honest
#  song but I wasn't strong enough to stick to my guns.'
#
#
#                           "Only In America"
#                    (Leiber / Stoller / Mann / Weil)
#
        [E]         [D]         [E]         [D]                                     Verse 1:
        O[E]nly in Am[D]erica
        C[E]an a guy from a[D]nywhere
        [E]Go to sleep a p[D]auper and w[E]ake up a millionaire
        [A]Only in Am[G]erica
        [A]Can a kid witho[G]ut a cent
        [A]Get a break and m[G]aybe grow [A]up to be President
Chorus:
        [D]Only in A[A/C#]merica
        L[D]and of oppo[A/C#]rtunity
         Bm            F#m            G          A        (1: B  2: E, to coda)
        Would a classy girl like you fall for a poor boy like me
Verse 2:
        Only in America
        Can a kid who's washing cars
        Take a giant step and reach right up and touch the stars
        Only in America
        Could a dream like this come true
        C[A]ould a guy like [G]me start with n[A]othing and e[B]nd up with y[E]ou
Instrumental break:
        (chords as per Verse 1)
(repeat chorus)
Coda:
        (O[E]nly in Am[D]erica) Poor boy like [E]me
        (Only in America) Poor boy like me
        (Only in America) Only in America  (repeat to fade)
-- another ace 60's tab from Andrew Rogers

ONLY IN AMERICA Jay and The Americans

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