You Better Get It While You Can (The Ballad Of Carl Martin) chords by
Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman

N/A
Key: A major
Verse 1
Em
Em

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C
C

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G
G

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I remember when I
met Carl Martin
C
C

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G
G

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It must have been a dozen years ago
C
C

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G
G

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This wise old gent was grey and bent
A
A

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G
G

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D
D

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But his eyes had a fiery glow
G
G

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He was born April Fool's
Day of 1906
C
C

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G
G

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Near Big Stone Gap, VA
He could play a little fiddle
And some blues guitar that
A
A

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D
D

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he'd picked up along the way
But, Jethro,
G
G

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once he put his hands on the mandolin
C
C

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G
G

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He lit up just like a Christmas tree
C
C

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Along with Ted Bogan and Howard
G
G

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Armstrong
They were the best string
A
A

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G
G

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band I ever did see
Verse 2
G
G

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Now for fifty odd years
they played rent parties
C
C

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G
G

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Road houses, concerts and festivals too
C
C

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At the drop of a hat these
G
G

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three black cats
A
A

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D
D

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Would play you every song they knew
G
G

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It was "Lady Be Good" and
C
C

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"The Barnyard Dance"
Em
Em

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And "The Ice Cream
G
G

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Freezer Blues"
C
C

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Now, they'd trot the oldest
G
G

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chestnuts out
A
A

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And make every one sound
D
D

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brand new
G
G

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And the little white boys
with their shiny guitars
C
C

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G
G

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Would follow right along at their heels
C
C

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They learned all the words
G
G

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and they learned all the chords
A
A

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D
D

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But they never did learn how it feels
G
G

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Now one night I asked Carl
where he got the fire
And he said, 'Steve,
C
C

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G
G

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you've got to understand
C
C

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If you want to be someone,
G
G

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you better have some fun
And you better get it while you can.'
D
D

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He
Verse 3
said:
G
G

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D
D

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G
G

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You better get it while you can
You better get it while you can
C
C

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G
G

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If you wait too long, it'll all be gone
A
A

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D
D

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And you'll be sorry then
G
G

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It doesn't matter if you're
D
D

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G
G

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rich or poor
C
C

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G
G

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And it's the same for a woman or a man
C
C

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From the cradle to the crypt
G
G

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Is a mighty short trip
So you better get it while
you can
C
C

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G
G

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C
C

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Verse 4
G
G

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Carl always had a way to make the
good times roll
C
C

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When the rest of us
G
G

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weren't so sure
C
C

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He'd just pick out the prettiest
G
G

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woman in the room
D
D

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And then he'd sing every
song to her
G
G

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Now, one night back East
when the gig was done
C
C

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G
G

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There was an all night blow- out jam
C
C

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We played and we sang
G
G

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and we drank for hours
A
A

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D
D

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Until the sun came up again
G
G

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It was blues and ballads, Ragtime,
Dixieland, Swing,
C
C

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G
G

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Some old time show tunes
C
C

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And then Carl Martin sang
G
G

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some songs nobody else knew
C
C

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G
G

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D
D

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And some I haven't heard since then
G
G

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But right before dawn he did
two more songs
C
C

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Just to separate the strong
G
G

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from the faint
C
C

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It was a red- hot rendition
G
G

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of "The Old Pine Tree"
Em
Em

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And a double- time version of 'The
G
G

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D
D

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Saints'
(With the mandolin behind his head)
G
G

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And when he was done those
of us who could still breathe
C
C

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G
G

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Took off our hats to that man
C
C

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Carl had played everybody under the
G
G

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table that night
And he said,
C
C

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A
A

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'You better get it while you can'
D
D

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It
Verse 5
G
G

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was:
D
D

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G
G

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You better get it while you can
C
C

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G
G

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You better get it while you can
C
C

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G
G

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If you wait too long, it'll all be gone
Cm
Cm

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C
C

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A
A

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D
D

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And you'll be sorry then
G
G

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It doesn't matter if
you're rich or poor
C
C

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G
G

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And it's the same for a woman or a man
C
C

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From the cradle to the crypt
G
G

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Is a mighty short trip
So you better get it while
you can
C
C

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G
G

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C
C

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G
G

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Verse 6
G
G

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You know Carl and his buddies
never got too far
C
C

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G
G

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When he died Martin didn't have a dime
C
C

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G
G

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He was a little behind in his payments
D
D

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G
G

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And a little bit ahead of his time
Last week some so- called
C
C

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musicians
G
G

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C
C

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Stayed up real late and burned one down
G
G

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C
C

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The li quor kept coming,
G
G

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C
C

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so we kept strumming
D
D

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Til a minute or two before dawn
G
G

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There were those who stayed
and those who faded
C
C

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But soon I was left all alone
G
G

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Now I don't believe in ghosts
- but I could swear
D
D

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I heard Carl Martin singing
C
C

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G
G

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one more song
A
A

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You better get
Verse 7
G
G

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it while you can
C
C

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G
G

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You better get it while you can
C
C

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If you wait too long,
G
G

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it'll all be gone
A
A

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D
D

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And you'll be sorry then
G
G

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It doesn't matter if you're
rich or poor
C
C

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G
G

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And it's the same for a woman or a man
C
C

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From the cradle to the crypt
G
G

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Is a mighty short trip
G
G

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So you better get it while you can
G
G

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You better get it while you can
C
C

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G
G

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G
G

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