The Winner chords by Bobby Bare

Chords with lyrics

C majorC
The hulk of a man with a beer in is hand
G+G
Looked like a drunk old fool

And I knew if I hit him right
      C majorC
Why I could knock him off-a that stool

But ever'body they said Watch out,
      FF
Hey, that's Tiger Man McCool
     G+G
He's had a whole lot of fights
              C majorC
And he's always come out a winner

G+G      C majorC
Yea!, he's a winner.


C majorC
But I'd had myself about five too many
G+G
And I walked up tall and proud

I faced his back and I faced the fact
       C majorC
That he had never stooped or bowed

I said, Tiger Man, you're a pussycat
    FF
And a hush fell on the crowd
       G+G
I said let's you and me go outside and see
     C majorC
Who's a winner.

C majorC
Well, he gripped the bar with one big hairy hand
G+G
And he braced against the wall

He slowly looked up from his beer
  C majorC
My God, that man was tall

He said boy, I see you're a scrapper
          FF
So just before you fall
     G+G
I'm gonna tell you just a little
              C majorC
'Bout what it means to be a winner.

C majorC
He said Now you see these bright white smiling teeth
G+G
You know they ain't my own

Mine rolled away like chiclets
     C majorC
Down the street in San Antone

But I left that person, cursin'
            FF
Nursin' seven broken bones
              G+G
And he, uh, only broke, uh, three of mine
         C majorC
That makes me the winner.

C majorC
He said Now behind this grin, I got steel pins
G+G
That holds my jaw in place

A augmentedA trophy of my most successful
  C majorC
Motorcycle race

And each morning when I wake and touch
   FF
This scar across my face
   G+G
It reminds me of all I got
      C majorC
by being a winner.

C majorC
Now this broken back was a dying act
G+G
Of a handsome Harry Clay

That sticky Cincinnati night
  C majorC
I stole his wife away

But that woman she gets uglier
       FF
And she gets meaner every day
   G+G
But I got her, boy
            C majorC
that's what makes me a winner

Change to ...[D MajorD]


D MajorD
He said You gotta speak loud when you challenge me son
      A augmentedA
'Cause it's hard for me to hear

With this twisted neck and these migrane pains
     D MajorD
And this big old cauliflower ear

And if it wasn't for this glass eye of mine
     G+G
Why, I'd shed a happy tear
  A augmentedA
To think of all you're gonna get
     D MajorD
By being a winner.

D MajorD
I got ar-th-rit-ic elbows, son
    A augmentedA
I got dislocated knees

From pickin' fights with thunderstorms
   D MajorD
And chargin' into trees

And my nose's been broke so often
    G+G
I might lose it if I sneeze
   A augmentedA
And son, you say you
         D MajorD
still wanna be a winner.

D MajorD
Now you remind me a lot of my younger days
      A augmentedA
With your knuckles a-clenchin' white

But boy, I'm gonna sit right here
   D MajorD
And sip this beer all night

And if there's somethin' that you gotta gain or prove
  G+G
by winnin' some silly fight
   A augmentedA
Well, OK, I quit, I lose
      D MajorD
You're the winner.

D MajorD
Oh, I stumbled from that barroom
    A augmentedA
Not so tall and not so proud

And behind me I still hear
   D MajorD
the hoots and laughter of the crowd

But my eyes still see and my nose still works
    G+G
And my teeth are still in my mouth
    A augmentedA
And you know, I guess that
       D MajorD
Makes me the winner.