Better Off Without A Wife

========================

-- comp. Tom Waits (from _Nighthawks_at_the_Diner_)

-- "transcr." tcg [recently divorced!], 198?

-- 4/4 // Key of G // Andante (pretty slow)

-- each chord symbol OR slash = 1 beat

"Odd" Voicings--

D7sus4 D7sus4/G C/G D7/F#

xxo___ __o___ ______ __o___

1 ||||1| 1 ||||1| 1 ||||1| 1 ||||1|

|||2|| |||2|| ||2||| 2x|3|4

|||||3 3x|||4 3x|||4 ||||||

INTRO: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4

|

G / D7sus4/G / | G / D7sus4/G /

|

G D7/F# Em(7) / | Am(7) / D(7) /

VERSE 1:

G / D7sus4 /

All my friends are married--

G / D7sus4 /

Ev'ry Tom and Dick and Harry--

G D7/F# Em(7) / Am(7) / D(7) /

It must be strong of you to go it alone--

G / D7sus4 /

Here's to the bachelors and the Bow'ry bums--

G / D7sus4 /

Those who feel that they're the ones that are

G Em Am(7) D(7) G C/G G /

Better Off Without a Wife--

C / D(7) /

I been sleepin' until the crack of noon--

G D7/F# Em /

Midnight howlin' at the moon-- and I been

Am(7) / D(7) /

Goin' out when I want to, (and I'm)

G / G7 /

Comin' home when I please--

C / D(7) /

Don't have to ask permission

G D7/F# Em /

If I wanna go out fishin'--

Am(7) / / / D7sus4 / D7 /

Never have to ask for the keys--

VERSE 2 [!!]:

G / D7sus4 /

Well, I never been no Valentino--

G / D7sus4 /

But I had a girl who lived in Reno--

G D7/F# Em(7) / Am(7) / D(7) /

Left me for a trumpet player, but it didn't get me down--

G / D7sus4 /

He was wanted for assault, and though he

G / D7sus4 /

Said it weren't his fault--

G Em Am(7) D(7) G C/G G /

You know the coppers rode him right outa town--

VERSE 3: [_underlined_phrases_are_spoken_, ad-lib style]

G / D7sus4 / G / D7sus4 /

_Ah,_yu'_see,_I'm_kinda_selfish_about_my privacy_--

G D7/F# Em(7) / Am(7) /

Now as long as I can be with me, _we_get_along_so_well,_I_can_

D(7) /

_hardly_believe_it_--

G / D7sus4 /

Love to chew the fat with folks--

G / D7sus4 /

I been list'nin' to all your dirty jokes--

G Em Am(7) D(7) G C/G G /

I'm so thankful for these friends I do receive--

[...recording ends (& begins) with some "Here Comes the Bride" piano!]

|

--:--tcg

)