Sweeney Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[D]It was somewhere in September
and [A]the sun was goin' down
When I came in search of copy,
to a Darling River [D]town
Come- And- Have- A- Drink we'll call it,
't[A]is a fitting name I think
And 'twas raining, for a wonder,
up at Come- And- Have- A- Drink
[D]

[Verse 2]
Under[G]neath the pub verandah
I was resting on a [D]bunk
When a [E]stranger rose before me,
and he said that he was [A]drunk
He [D]apologised for speaking,
there was [A]no offence he swore
But he somehow seemed to fancy
that he'd seen my face be[D]fore
He agreed you can't remember all
[A]the chaps you chance to meet
And he said his name was Sweeney,
people lived in Sussex Street
[D]

[Verse 3]
He was camping in a stable,
that he [A]swore that he was right
Only for the blanky horses
walkin' over him all [D]night
He'd ap[G]parently been fighting,
for his face was black and [D]blue
And it [E]looked as though the horses
had been treading on him too
[A]

[Verse 4]
But an [D]honest genial twinkle in the
[A]eye that wasn't hurt
Seemed to hint of something better,
spite of drink and rags and [D]dirt[A][D]
He was born in Parramatta and
he [A]said with humour grim
That he'd like to see the city,
'ere the liquor finished [D]him
But he couldn't raise the money,
he was [A]damned if he could think
What the Government was doing here,
he offered me a drink
[D]

[Verse 5]
I declined, 'twas self- denial and
I [A]lectured him on booze
Using all the hackneyed arguments
that preachers mostly [D]use
Things I'd heard in temperance lectures,
I was [A]young and rather green
And I ended by referring to
the man he might have been
[D]

[Verse 6]
But he [G]couldn't stay to argue,
for his beer was nearly [D]gone
He was [E]glad, he said, to meet me,
and he'd see me later [A]on
But he [D]guessed he'd have to go
and get his [A]bottle filled again
And he gave a lurch and vanished
in the darkness and the [D]rain

[Verse 7]
[D]Now of afternoons in cities,
when the [A]rain is on the land
Visions come to me of Sweeney,
with his bottle in his [D]hand.[G]
[D]