Peter Anderson Co

Afinação: E A D G B ETecla: C#Capotraste: 1st traste Chords relative to Capo 1. [Intro] C C F G G F C [Verse 1] C G He had offices in Sydney, many years ago, F C And his shingle bore the legend, `Peter Anderson and Co.’. G But his real name was Careless, as the fellows understood F C And his relatives decided that he wasn’t any good. F ‘Twas their gentle tongues that blasted any `character’ he had G F C He was fond of beer and leisure and the Co. was just as bad. F It was limited in number to a unit, was the Co. G F C ‘Twas a bosom chum of Peter and his Christian name was Joe. [Verse 2] C G Oh, The office was their haven, for they lived there when hard-up F C A `daily’ for a tablecloth, a jam tin for a cup. G If perchance the landlord’s bailiff happened round in times like these F C Just to seized the office-fittings. well, there wasn’t much to seize F And when morning brought the bailiff, there’d be nothing to be seen G F C Save a piece of bevelled cedar where the tenant’s plate had been. F And there’d be no sign of Peter and there’d be no sign of Joe G F C But another portal boasted, `Peter Anderson and Co.’ [Verse 3] C G Peter always met you smiling, always seemed to know you well, F C Always gay and glad to see you, always had a joke to tell. G He could laugh when all was gloomy, he could grin when all was blue, F C Sing a comic song and act it, and appreciate one, too. F Glorious, drunk and happy, till they heard the rooster’s crow G F C But the landlady and neighbours made complaints about the Co. F But that life it might be likened to a reckless drinking-song, G F C But it couldn’t last forever, and it never lasted long. [Interlude] C C F G G F C [Verse 4] C G Debt-collecting ruined Peter, people talked him round too oft, F C For his heart was soft as butter and the Co.’s was just as soft. G But, of course, it wasn’t business only Peter’s careless way. F C And perhaps it pays in heaven, but on earth it doesn’t pay. F They got harder up than ever, and, to make it worse, the Co. G F C Went more often round the corner than was good for him to go. F `I might live,’ he said to Peter, `but I haven’t got the nerve G F C I am going, Peter, going, going no reserve.' [Verse 5] C G Peter mourned his buried comrade, feeling beaten and bereft, F C paid the undertaker cash and then got drunk on what was left. G Then he shed some tears, half-maudlin, on the grave where lay the Co., F C And he drifted to a township where the city failures go. F In a town of wrecks and failures they appreciated him. G F C Men who might have been, who had been, but who were not in the swim. F They would ask him who the Co. was, that queer company he kept G F C And he’d always answer vaguely he would say his partner slept. [Verse 6] C G That he had a `sleeping partner’ jesting while his spirit broke F C And they grinned above their glasses, for they took it for a joke. G Till at last there came a morning when his smile was seen no more F C He was gone from out the office, and his shingle from the door, F And a boundary-rider jogging out across the neighb’ring run G F C Was attracted by a something that was blazing in the sun. F And he found that it was Peter, lying peacefully at rest, G F C With a bottle close beside him and the shingle on his breast. [Outro] C G Yes, He had offices in Sydney, many years ago F C C C And his shingle bore the legend, `Peter Anderson and Co.’,