Practical Man

[Verso 1]
 
G                         B7        E7 
Last night I drank with a practical man 
A                      C            G 
Who seemed to think he knew me well 
                       B7 
He had no debts and he had no troubles 
C                      Eb         D7 
All night long he kept setting up doubles 
B7               A7                   C      G 
And he asked me "What have you got to sell?" 
 


[Verso 2]
 
                              B7        E7 
"I'll see you right" said the practical man 
A                         C           G 
"A boy like you should be living high 
                  B7 
All you do is get up and be funny 
    C                         Eb      D7 
And I'll turn the laughs into folding money 
B7              A7                  C     G 
Can you name me anything that can't buy?" 
 


[Verso 3]
 
                                 B7        E7 
"So you deal in dreams" said the practical man 
A                             C          G 
"So does that mean you should be so coy? 
                   B7 
I fixed one chap a show on tele 
    C                     Eb          D7      B7 
Who limped like Byron and talked like Shelley 
                   A7                  C     G 
Through a ten-part epic on the fall of Troy" 
 


[Verso 4]
 
                              B7        E7 
"I'll tell you what" said the practical man 
      A                     C          G 
As he tapped the ash from a purple fag 
                         B7 
"Let's head uptown for a meal somewhere 
        C                             Eb      D7    B7 
You can sing me something while we're driving there 
                     A7                 C    G 
There's a grand piano in the back of my Jag" 
 


[Verso 5]
 
                         B7        E7 
So I sang my song to the practical man 
   A               C                 G 
It sounded bad but she couldn't hear 
                         B7                  C 
And the silent lights of town went streaming 
                    Eb      D7       B7 
As if the car was a turtle, dreaming 
                      A7              C    G 
The night was sad and she was nowhere near 
 


[Verso 6]
 
                             B7        E7 
"It's a great idea" said the practical man 
        A                     C              G 
As they brought in waiters on flaming swords 
                              B7 
"You love this chick and it's really magic 
        C               Eb             D7 
But she won't play ball - that's kinda tragic 
    B7                 A7             C        G 
Now how do we get this concept on the boards?" 
 


[Verso 7]
 
                              B7        E7 
"I see it like this" said the practical man 
      A                      C               G 
As he chose a trout from the restaurant pool 
                       B7                  C 
"We change it round so she's going frantic 
                       Eb     D7     B7 
To win the love of the last romantic 
                        A7            C     G 
And you're the one, her wild creative fool" 
 


[Verso 8]
 
                                B7        E7 
So I thought it all over as the practical man 
A                          C           G 
Watched them slaughter the fatted calf 
                  B7 
I saw again her regretful smile 
C                          Eb      D7   B7 
Sweet to look at though it meant denial 
                A7                C      G 
It was bound to hurt but I had to laugh 
 


[Verso 9]
 
                           B7        E7 
And that's when I told the practical man 
      A                        C          G 
As he drank champagne from the Holy Grail 
                         B7 
There are some ideas you can't play round with 
E7                      A7                      C 
Can't let go of and you can't give ground with 
                           Eb          D7         B7 
Cause when you die they're what you're found with 
                    A7                     C     G 
There are just some songs that are not for sale