Playin For The Traffic

C G C



[Verse 1]
C                                      F              C
You could have seen him any day up the back of Martin Place
Am                        G
In a battered Sunday suit that’s seen far better days
F                  C             G               Am
Blowing on a mouth harp with the kind of wit and grace
F                                                G
That would bring a smile to the face of a broken clock
    C                                   F           C
And there was not a verse or chorus the old bastard didn’t know
 Am                                 G
From Mother Kelly’s Doorstep to The Banks of The Ohio
F                   C       G                     Am
The typists and the tellers didn’t want to bloody know
F                                 G
Dealing with their dose of future shock



[Chorus]
C                                      F       C
He was playing for the traffic and the nine to fivers
Am                               G
Tooraloo you’re bound for Botany Bay
    C                                       F              C
And he gave more to this world than all the penny-pinching bastards
     Am                G          C
They turned around and looked the other way

 Am G C F G Am G C G C

[Verse 2]
C                              F                     C
I stood awhile to listen as he played the thing with ease
Am                                    G
The crowd that day was tighter than a Pom at a wine and cheese
F               C               G             Am
Maybe they were hard up or just plain hard to please
    F                   G
But no one put a single cent his way
C                              F           C
So I reached into my pocket to even up the score
Am                                G
Dropped a pile of change into the tin plate on the floor
F                 C            G                Am
When you work the streets they treat you like a whore
    F                              G
And no one ought to ever feel that way


[Chorus]
C                                      F       C
He was playing for the traffic and the nine to fivers
Am                               G
Tooraloo you’re bound for Botany Bay
    C                                       F              C
And he gave more to this world than all the penny-pinching bastards
     Am                G          C
They turned around and looked the other way

 Am G C F G Am G C G C

[Verse 3]
C                                      F            C
He was playing when I left him, with a new crowd to convince
  Am                     G
I often look out for him but he’s not been back there since
F           C       G            Am
Did anybody notice, does anybody wince
   F                                     G
At some pour Bastard digging through the trash
C                                                  F                    C
Cause in this land of milk and honey where there’s more than enough for all
Am                              G
Why did he spend his whole life with his back against the wall
    F                     C       G                  Am
Did he fight in two world wars to wind up with sweet fuck all
F                                  G
begging on the street for a bit of stash



[Chorus]
C                                      F       C
He was playing for the traffic and the nine to fivers
Am                               G
Tooraloo you’re bound for Botany Bay
    C                                       F              C
And he gave more to this world than all the penny-pinching bastards
     Am                G          C
That turned around and looked the other way