WWW.AZCHORDS.COM | Al Stewart - The Ballad Of Mary Foster Chords | Ver. 1
[ACT I]
[Verse 1]
E D A G E
David Foster lives in Gloucester with his fam-i-ly
E D A G E
Works till pay-time through the day-time; comes home for tea
A G D A E
Steak and kidney, then with Sydney to his club and feels free
E D A G E
They close the bar, he finds his car and then comes home to sleep.
E
And his wife has been with Rosie in the parlour where it's cosy
E D
Watching telly doing dishes patching pants and making wishes
E
And he'll say "Bill should have wired"
E
And "Not tonight dear I'm too tired"
D E
And life drifts slowly by in the provinces.
[Verse 2]
E D A G E
Peter Foster goes to Gloucester for his first school day
E D A G E
Bites his teacher, sees a preacher and is taught to pray
A G D A E
Sees some birds and learns some words it's very, very rude to say
D A G E
Yes, he's rather like his father was in his young day
E
And his father has discussions, holding forth about the Russians
E
"Will the Red Chinese attack us?"
D
"Do we need the Yanks to back us?
E
And in bed she feels his shoulder, but he grunts and just turnsover
D E
And life drifts slowly by in the provinces.
[Chorus]
Am E
Wedding rings come with strings
Am G Emaj7 Em
But love depends on the lit-tle things
Am E7
Oh could that still be real-ly you
Emaj7 Em7 Emaj7 E D G E
Is there an-y-thing time can't doo-ooo-ooo.
[Verse 3]
E D A G E
David Foster's been promoted, he's a de-cent sort
E D A G E
Peter's gone to Dad's old Public School, it's good for sport
A G D A E
They've even got a private parking place down in Huntingdon Co-o-o-u-rt
D A G E
Maybe soon he'll be a magistrate, the neigh-bours thought
E E
Yes, and then he'll teach the beatniks, and the hang-around-the-streetnicks
E D E
And the good-for-nothing loafers, who knock girls up on their sofas
E
And his wife is quite nice, really
E
Though she seems a little dreamy
F
Recently.....
[ACT II]
[Verse 1]
Dm F G Bb
I was born and brought up on the east side of town
Dm F A
And my earliest days they passed quickly
Dm F G Bb
I would play after school with the kids all around
Dm C Bb
In the sun and the dust of the back streets
[Verse 2]
Dm F G Bb
Oh, all through my girlhood the war had its day
Dm F A
And my daddy he would always be leaving
Dm F G Bb
So my brother and I we would sit by her side
Dm C Bb
Telling our tales through the evening
[Verse 3]
Dm F G Bb
Oh, I grew with the days and the boys came to call
Dm F A
In the back-shed I learned about kissing
Dm F G Bb
But I don't think my mother she has noticed at all
Dm C Bb
For we've heard that my daddy is missing
[Verse 4]
Dm F G Bb
Then my school days they were over and I went off to work
Dm F A
And my mother she grew quieter and greyer
Dm F G Bb
So one day I left her and went off to live
Dm C Bb
With Billy, a saxophone player
[Verse 5]
Dm F G Bb
In our broken down attic we laughed and made love
Dm F A
And all that we had we were sharing
Dm F G Bb
Oh, we slept through the day and played into the night
Dm C Bb
God, we did as we pleased without caring
[Verse 6]
Dm F G Bb
Oh but a year's passed away and he's left me one day
Dm F A
To play in a faraway country
Dm F G Bb
And the sun told my eyes "You've got no place to hide"
Dm C Bb
As I waited to be having his baby
[Verse 7]
Dm F G Bb
Oh I lived in the park and the men passed and stared
Dm F A
Each wondering which one had lost her
Dm F G Bb
And one came to ask could he buy me a meal
Dm C Bb
And he said he was called David Foster
[Verse 8]
Dm F G Bb
We were married that month and I swore to myself
Dm F A
Somehow I'd pay back what I owed him
Dm F G Bb
Cooking his supper and cleaning his boots
Dm C Bb
Yes, and kidding myself I could love him
[Verse 9]
Dm F G Bb
Oh, but now my baby is grown and he's gone out to school
Dm F A
And he looks very much like his daddy
Dm F G Bb
And David has buried himself in his work
Dm C Bb
And the time on my hands, it hangs heavy
[Verse 10]
Dm F G Bb
Oh, the neighbours they smile as we pass in the streets
Dm F A
And they make their remarks on the weather
Dm F G Bb
But the butcher and baker deliver things now
Dm C Bb
And I've stopped going out altogether
[Verse 11]
Dm F G Bb
Oh, I live by my mirror and stare in my eyes
Dm F A
Just trying to make out who I see there
Dm F G Bb
But I'm looking at a woman that I can't recognize
Dm C Bb
And I don't think that she knows me either
[Verse 12]
Dm F G Bb
There are lines on her face and her hair is a mess
Dm F A
And the light in her eyes it grows colder
Dm F G Bb
In the morning there is nothing will change, ah but yes
Dm C Bb G
I will be just a little bit older
[Outro]
D C D
Mmmmm
