Our Street Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[G]
This is our street.
We did a lot of growing up
right here.
I've been kissed, kicked,
cussed and cuddled all in this one block.
I've laughed, cried,
ran and chased
[D]up and down this side[G]walk.
See that yard over there?
I had my arm and my heart broken there.
The arm was about ten
years before the heart
and didn't hurt near as much.
I remember the heart so much better.
[F]Now that's [G]where Nancy Clemmer
[A]lived.
[F]Nancy and I had been in [D]love
since we were three years old.
[G]Had grown up together.
And the winter we turned 16
when it came time for the high school Christmas
[C]dance boy.
I got excited I went out
rented a tuxedo
[G]bought a boutonniere [F]a corsage
Asked daddy for the [G]car
had it washed at all shine
that [C]boy look good
I remember to [F]do everything
except one thing do you believe
I forgot to ask Nancy?
So [G]there I stood on her front yard that night
and she went to the dance
with Eddie Franklin of all people
And oh, by [C]the way,
[G]ten years before that,
it was Nancy who broke [D]my arm
playing football
in that very [F]same yard.
Now, Nancy and I go back a long way.
We walk [G]to school...
Every evening [A]after school,
[G]along about the fourth or [D]fifth grade,
we [A]would all gather
over in Jennifer's yard.
The girls doing [G]cartwheels
and giggling,
the boys doing tricks on our bikes
and showing off.
And we'd always get our heads
together, though,
and make big plans for special occa[Em]sions.
It [G]was nearing Halloween,
and we told each other
how we were going to dress
and what we were going to [C]be
and de[G]cided we'd all go trick -or -treating
[F]together.
[G]So about half a dozen of us took off
Halloween night
with our bags and costumes
[D]down the street.
[G]And my dog, King,
who was used to going everywhere I went,
fell right in to go too.
But I didn't want him tagging
along at night,
and I had to scold him pretty hard
and almost drag him back to the back[C]yard
and close the gate on him.
We hadn't gone [G]ten houses
down [F]the street
when [G]old Blackie,
[A]this enormous old [F]German shepherd
that we were [G]all scared to death of,
was for some reason loose on
Halloween night.
He came out from between two [A]houses
heading [G]straight toward
us.
[C]Everybody screamed
and took off running,
except [F]me,
and I was so scared [G]I froze.
[C]I never did see King,
[F]but I felt [A]him come in behind [F]me,
and he grabbed
the old German shepherd
[A]just before the old German shepherd
[G]grabbed me
and they went round and round
and you couldn't
[Bb]see anything but [G]fur flying
[C]an d I couldn't see
the fur for the tears.
Old Blackie ran home [G]yelping
and I grabbed King and hugged him
[F]and we went home and [G]both of us
sat on the front porch
[C]and watched the trick -or
[G]-treaters come and go
till mama [C]turned the porch light off
an[F]d said it was time to go to bed.
[G]It was the best Halloween I
[D]ever had.
I wouldn't trade it for all
the candy
[G]Two houses down from the corner,
that's where Betty Lee
Miller lived.
And when I'd take [A]her home at night,
if we sat in the car for 30 seconds,
her mama would start
blinking the [D]porch light.
So we'd always walk up on the porch
and the light was on
and [G]glaring right in our faces.
There was no way I could ever kiss
[F]Betty goodnight
without the whole [G]neigh
borhood watching.
So one night, I just reached up
and twisted the light
bulb till it went out.
[A]We laughed, kissed,
and then I went home.
The next day Betty's mother
came out,
[D]checked the switch,
and changed the light bulb.
A few nights later,
the same [G]thing happened.
[Em]And the next day her m[G]other said,
[Em]I don't kn[G]ow what could be hap[D]
pening with these [A]light bulbs,
and [Am]she put a new one [A]in .
And this happened about five or six times,
and of [D]course Betty wasn't
[A]about to tell her what was going on,
[D]and I certainly wasn't. And [G]then I went
to pick Betty Lee up [C]one evening,
and [G]her daddy was on [D]the front porch
with [G]a ladder and a tool belt
and he was putting in a brand
new light fixture.
I decided then it was [A]time
to either quit turning the light off
or quit turning Betty on.
Unfortunately [D]I did both.
The next fall she got engaged
and moved to [G]New York State.
The sights and sounds of this street
will always haunt me.
In the wintertime
everyone would be out
[Eb]shoveling snow off the sidewalk.
In the [A]fall, they'd be
raking leaves.
And in the spring and [D]summer,
mowing the grass or washing the cars.
The kids would walk to school together and at three,
[G]the quiet would [Em]be torn [G]apart
and the street would come alive [D]again
with children's voices and
[G]laughter.
Daddies would come home at five
and warm [Eb]lights were in [G]every kitchen
[A]window.
It was a time when people would walk or ride by and wave and
you'd speak whether you knew them [D]or not.
A time when people really
did go next door
and borrow a cup [G]of sugar.
A time when sitting
on the front porch
was a special time [B]of the evening,
[G]boy, people back then
could really sit on the front [Em]porch.
[G]Mo m and Daddy [F]in the glider
and my sister in the swing
[G]and me on the [A]front steps.[Am]
[A]And on just about a[D]ny summer evening,
you could hear Shirley Jean Burrell
and Charlotte Thompson
across the [G]street singing.
and they would be in
[D]the swing
on Charlotte's front porch.
[G]You could hear [Em]that old swing [G]creaking
and I guess they only knew
the harmony to one song,
[A]but they [D]sang that one every even[A]ing.
We'd get [D]quiet and listen.
That old swing would creak
and Shirley Jean and [Eb]Char
[G]lotte were singing.
God, if only I could be little again.
[D]Tell [A]me why[G] the stars do [A]shi[G]ne
[D]Tell [A]me [D]why[G] the ivy[D] thr[A]ives
[D]Tell [A]me [G]why the ocean's [B]blue
[G]And I will tell [A]you [G]just [D]why [A]I l[G]ove you
[D]Because [A]God [D]mad[G]e the sta[C]rs to shine
[G]Becau[D]se God[A] mad[G]e the ivy tw[A]ine
[D]Because God[A] mad[G]e the ocean [C]blue
[B]Bec[G]ause God mad[A]e you,
that's [D]why I [G]love you
Be[D]cause God [G]made the [C]stars to [G]shine
Because [A]God [G]made the ivy[A] twi[D]ne
Because [A]God [G]made the
[C]ocean [B]blue
Because God made [A]you,
that's why I love [G]you.