Key: A major
Verse 1
Em
C
G
I remember when I
met Carl Martin
C
G
It must have been a dozen years ago
C
G
This wise old gent was grey and bent
A
G
D
But his eyes had a fiery glow
Day of 1906
C
G
Near Big Stone Gap, VA
He could play a little fiddle
And some blues guitar that
A
D
he'd picked up along the way
But, Jethro,
C
G
He lit up just like a Christmas tree
G
Armstrong
They were the best string
A
G
band I ever did see
Verse 2
they played rent parties
C
G
Road houses, concerts and festivals too
A
D
Would play you every song they knew
with their shiny guitars
C
G
Would follow right along at their heels
A
D
But they never did learn how it feels
where he got the fire
And he said, 'Steve,
C
G
you've got to understand
And you better get it while you can.'
Verse 3
said:
G
D
G
You better get it while you can
You better get it while you can
C
G
If you wait too long, it'll all be gone
A
D
And you'll be sorry then
D
G
rich or poor
C
G
And it's the same for a woman or a man
So you better get it while
you can
C
G
C
Verse 4
G
Carl always had a way to make the
good times roll
song to her
when the gig was done
C
G
There was an all night blow- out jam
A
D
Until the sun came up again
Dixieland, Swing,
C
G
Some old time show tunes
C
G
D
And some I haven't heard since then
two more songs
G
D
Saints'
(With the mandolin behind his head)
of us who could still breathe
C
G
Took off our hats to that man
And he said,
C
A
'You better get it while you can'
Verse 5
D
G
You better get it while you can
C
G
You better get it while you can
C
G
If you wait too long, it'll all be gone
Cm
C
A
D
And you'll be sorry then
you're rich or poor
C
G
And it's the same for a woman or a man
So you better get it while
you can
C
G
C
G
Verse 6
G
You know Carl and his buddies
never got too far
C
G
When he died Martin didn't have a dime
C
G
He was a little behind in his payments
D
G
And a little bit ahead of his time
Last week some so- called
C
musicians
G
C
Stayed up real late and burned one down
G
C
The li quor kept coming,
G
C
so we kept strumming
and those who faded
- but I could swear
C
G
one more song
Verse 7
C
G
You better get it while you can
A
D
And you'll be sorry then
rich or poor
C
G
And it's the same for a woman or a man
C
G
G
How did you like the song?
TunerE A D G B E
ChordsEm C G A D...
More songs by Steve Goodman
Discover chords for more songs to play
Related songs
Discover chords for more songs to play
Popular chords globally
Most played chords & tabs across all users
