INTRO: Dm  A7  Dm  A7 
 
verse 1 
 
                Dm 
Well, I had the contract with me  
      Gm 
I was opening for a star  
    C 
I'd seen him on the concert stage  
    Dm 
I'd watched him from afar  
  F 
I hadn't heard much lately  
   C 
Of anything he'd done  
    Dm 
But he sang songs of rights and wrongs  
   A7 
Of those who'd lost or won  

verse 2 
 
          Dm 
So it was in a run down nightclub  
     Gm 
In a broken part of town 
      C 
I was on the long way up  
       Dm 
He was on the long way down 
  F 
I saw him in a corner  
        C 
Playing pinball, killing time  
  Dm 
I asked him how he was  
           A7 
And with a smile he answered "Fine"  
With a smile he answered "Fine"  
Then he said 


[Refrão]
 
 F 
"Sonny, it's the same old pinball  
  Dm 
I played ten years ago  
C 
Now it's just like me, friend  
    F                C     F 
The action's getting slow  

I've been to the top friend  
Dm 
Now I'm way down low  
      C 
Still playing the same old pinball clubs  
                    F    Dm  A7  Dm  A7 
I played ten years ago"  
 
verse 3 
 
      Dm 
Well, never meet your heroes  
     Gm 
I've read that line somewhere 
        C 
They're just like you and me  
             Dm 
With all our hope and our despair  
  F 
I said “It's never that bad  
        C 
There's always one more day  
        Dm 
There's always one more song to sing  
    A7 
And one more tune to play"  
 
verse 4 
 
              Dm 
Well, he just looked me up and down  
            Gm 
And then he slowly shook his head  
           C 
He said "To stay alive, try 9 to 5  
  Dm 
To earn your daily bread"  
  F 
I said "You were my idol 
    C 
You handed me this dream"  
          Dm 
He turned away and pointed  
       A7 
To the battered old machine  
That battered old machine  
And he said 


[Refrão]

 F 
"Sonny, it's the same old pinball  
  Dm 
I played ten years ago  
C 
Now it's just like me, friend  
    F                C     F 
The action's getting slow  

I've been to the top friend  
Dm 
Now I'm way down low  
      C 
Still playing the same old pinball clubs  
                    F    Dm  A7  Dm  A7 
I played ten years ago"  
 
VERSE 5 
 
           Dm 
He said "I made a lot of money  
      Gm 
And I drank a lot of wine  
  C 
I paid for all my pleasures  
            Dm 
And I had a real good time  
  F 
I never stayed in one place  
C 
Longer than a day  
  Dm 
I gave them pearls and told the girls  
  A7 
I really couldn't stay" 
 
VERSE 6 
 
            Dm 
"But where, where'd it go to sonny?  
   Gm 
It came and went so fast 
     C 
It's far too easy nowadays  
   Dm 
To live back in the past 
    F 
But I'm still good for doing  
C 
What I've always done 
      Dm 
There hasn't been a house yet  
  A7 
I haven't fought and won 
I haven't fought and won."  
Then he said 


[Refrão]
 
 F 
"Sonny, it's the same old pinball  
  Dm 
I played ten years ago  
C 
Now it's just like me, friend  
    F                C     F 
The action's getting slow  

I've been to the top friend  
Dm 
Now I'm way down low  
      C 
Still playing the same old pinball clubs  
                    F    Dm  A7  Dm  A7 
I played ten years ago"  
 
VERSE 7 
 
    Dm 
"So now they're out there waiting 
         Gm 
And they don't know who you are 
     C 
They don't care for your future  
        Dm 
They'll just prop up the bar 
    F 
And you, you'll sing your heart out  
    C 
And maybe some will hear  
    Dm 
And maybe you'll come back  
              A7 
And play this place again next year" 

VERSE 8 

                       Dm 
"So, go on and do your set now, sonny  
  Gm 
Before they get too drunk 
    C 
And please, don't count them, sonny  
      Dm 
These glasses that I've sunk 
     F 
I'll do my show, remember  
     C 
I've never lost them yet  
    Dm 
But sonny, sometimes lately  
A7 
It's been an even bet 
It's been an even bet."  
Then he said 


[Refrão]

 F 
"Sonny, it's the same old pinball  
  Dm 
I played ten years ago  
C 
Now it's just like me, friend  
    F                C     F 
The action's getting slow  

I've been to the top friend  
Dm 
Now I'm way down low  
      C 
Still playing the same old pinball clubs  
                    F    Dm  A7  Dm  A7 
I played ten years ago"  
 
VERSE 9 
 
          Dm 
He's long gone and forgotten  
    Gm 
His name you never knew  
    C 
But what reminded me  
           Dm 
Was when I turned and looked at you  
F 
Standing there so happy  
          C 
With your new guitar and dreams  
Dm 
One question for you, sonny  
        A7 
Can you play these machines 
Can you play these machines 


[Refrão]

 F 
'Cause sonny it's the same old pinball 
   Dm 
He played ten years ago 
    C 
And now it's just like me friend  
    F                C     F 
The action's getting slow  

I've been to the top friend  
    Dm 
And now I'm way down low  
      C 
Still playing the same old pinball clubs  
                    F  
I played ten years ago"  
         C 
Yes, I'm playing the same old pinball clubs  
                    F 
I played ten years ago"