Thirty Years Of Tears
John Hiatt
From the 1990 A&M Records release Stolen Moments
Transcribed by Jim O'Neill (thunderbird2k1@hotmail.com)
A great song...and by no coincidence transcribed on my 30th birthday. This is a
waltz (¾ time), listen to the CD for timing and the chord pattern. In the intro
and between lines of the verse for the chord change from G to Cadd9, play the
G (320033), lift your first two fingers and strum the A7sus4(x00033), then hammer
the 1st and 2nd fingers to the Cadd9(x32033).
Chords
G A7Sus4 Cadd9 Em7 Dsus2 Dsus4 Dsus4/A G5/B
e|--3---3--------3-------3-----0-------3-------3---------3----|
B|--3---3--------3-------3-----3-------3-------3---------3----|
G|--0---0--------0-------0-----2-------2-------2---------0----|
D|--0---0--------2-------2-----0-------0-------0---------0----|
A|--2---0--------3-------2-----x-------x-------0---------2----|
E|--3---x--------x-------0-----x-------x-------x---------x----|
Intro and Riff 1: G A7sus4 Cadd9 (see performance notes)
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
Is this a place I can rest my poor head,
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
To gather my thoughts in sweet si......lence?
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
Is this a place where the feelings aren't dead,
From an overexposure to violence?
And is this a place I can slowly face
The only one I truly can know?
These are tears from a long time ago,
I've got these tears from a long time ago,
and I need to cry thirty years or so.
These are tears from a long time ago.
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
"Oh, Darling, Oh, darling" you say unto me,
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
"Oh, Where have you been all my life...time?"
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
Well, I have been swimmin' the seven sad seas,
Fair women have thrown me their lifelines,
And I just pulled them in to the water's dark grin,
I'd have warned 'em but I didn't know.
These are tears from a long time ago,
I've got these tears from a long time ago,
and I need to cry thirty years or so.
These are tears from a long time ago.
Cadd9 G5/B A7Sus4 G
Interlude Chords:
/ / (2x)
(2x)
/ / (2x)
/ /
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
Well, I've cried me a river, I've cried me a lake,
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
Hell, I cried 'til the past nearly drowned me.
G Em7 Cadd9 G Riff 1
Tears for sad consequence, tears for mistakes,
But never these tears that surround me.
Alone in this place with a lifetime to trace,
And a heartbeat that tells me it's so.
Oh, and I've got these tears from a long time ago,
These are tears from a long time ago,
and I need to cry thirty years or so,
These are tears from a long time ago,
These are tears from a long time ago,
I've got these tears from a long time ago.