I Can't Write Left-Handed - Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - October 1972 chords by Bill Withers

SimplifiedG · C · F · Dm · Bb …

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Intro 1

Verse 1
Dm 
We recorded this song on Oc
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tober the 6th
Since then the war's been
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G 
declared over
If you're like me you'll remember
it like anybody remembers any war
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G 
One big drag
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Lot of people write songs about
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wars and government
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Very social things
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C 
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But I think about young guys who were like
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I was when I was young
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I had no more idea about any government,
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or political things or anything
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And I think about those kind
of young guys now
Who all of a sudden somebody
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comes up
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And they're very law-abiding
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So So if somebody says go they don't
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F 
ask any questions they just go

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Verse 2
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And I can remember not too long
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ago seeing a young guy
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With his right arm gone,
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just got back
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And I asked him how
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he was doing
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He said he was doing all right now
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But he had thought he was
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gonna die
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He said getting shot
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at didn't bother him
It was getting shot that
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shook him up
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And I tried to put myself
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in his position
Maybe he cried,
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maybe he said

Interlude 1

Verse 3
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C 
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I can't write left handed
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Would you please write a letter,
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write a letter to my mother?
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Tell her,  tell her to tell
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Tell her to tell the family
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F 
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lawyer
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Try to get a deferment for my young
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er brother

Interlude 2

Verse 4
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Tell the Reverend Harris to pray for me,
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Lord, Lord, Lord
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C 
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I ain't gonna live, I   don't believe I'm going
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to live to get much older
Em 
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Strange little man over here in Vietnam,
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I ain't, I ain't never seen
Bless his heart I ain't
never done nothin' to
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He done shot me  in my shoulder

Interlude 3

Verse 5
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Bb 
Boot camp we had classes
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F 
C 
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F 
You know we talked about fightin',
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F 
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fightin' everyday
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And lookin' through rosy,
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F 
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rosy colored glasses
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I must admit it seemed exciting
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anyway
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But something that they over
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C 
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looked to tell me
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Bullets look better I must
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say
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C 
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Rather when they comin'
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at you
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But go without the other way
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Bb 

Verse 6
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And please call up the Reverend
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call up, call up the Rev erend
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C 
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Harris
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And tell him to ask the lord to do some good things
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for me
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Tell him, I ain't gonna live, I ain't gonna live
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I ain't gonna live to get much
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older
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Oh Lord
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Verse 7
Em 
D 
Strange little man over here in Vietnam,
I ain't never seen
Em 
bless his heart I, ain't
never done nothing to
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he done shot me in my shoulder
F 