The Carpenter
By Guy Clark
Written by Guy Clark
Album: Better Days (1983)
Tabbed by Larry Mofle
5/29/2016


       Em                             D  
Let us now praise a carpenter and the things that he made
        C                        D
And the way that he lived by the tools of his trade
       Em                           D
I can still hear his hammer singing ten penny time
C                            D 
Working by the hour till the day he died


Chorus:
          G
Oh he was tough as a crowbar, he was quick as a chisel
D                   Em        G
Fair as a plane and true as a level
       G 
He was straight as a chalkline and right as a rule
       D                                   Em          G
He was square with the world, he took good care of his tools


Oh he worked his hands in wood from the crib to the coffin
With a care and a love you don't see too often
He built boats out of wood, big boats, working in a shipyard
Mansions on the hill, and a birdhouse in the backyard

Chorus

He said anything that's worth cuttin' down a tree for
Is worth doin' right, don't the Lord love a two by four
And then they asked him how to do something, he'd say just like Noah built the ark
You got to hold your mouth right son and never miss your mark

Chorus