When The Dinner Bell Rings
John Hartford-Walls We Bounce Off Of
Chords Tabbed by: Verne Garrison
Banjo tuned E, Capo 3, Key of G

Lyrics From: Jim Dixon  Mudcat Cafe

John Hartford played the fiddle almost constantly in the key of G
going to D7 then back to G in last line of each verse.  I wish I knew 

the story or background that prompted this unusual song.



WHEN THE DINNER BELL RINGS
As sung by John Hartford on "Walls We Bounce Off Of" (1994)


   G
When I look at this fiddle

The color of your skin
       D7                               
As smooth as the desert inside your eyes
                                      G        G
Round as the world you profess not to be a part of

   G
When I deal this card,

One of many that are capable of playing poker

Like the game we play with each other when we are alone
                                  D7           G
As a single mouse muffin on a new high-school diploma

So pulling back this lever
I start the engine like some diesel belt
From the basement of consciousness that controls my love of music
Which like my love of you shall not perish forever

And the best-loved songs of the American people, like the crowd
That dances in ever-widening circles
Around these fiddlers here who practice their sawmill movements
Changing only when the dinner bell rings