Small Engine Repair chords by Tom Russell

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Intro:
D

Verse:
D                          F#m
I work right out of my own garage,
G          F#m     Em
I keep my own damn books
A                         Bm
My wife’s up there in the trailer house, mister,
G                          D
she’s 46, but keepin’ her looks
D                               F#m
Your lawnmower’s needin’ it’s carburetor cleaned,
G              F#m           Em
your air filter ain’t suckin’ air
A                         Bm
Leave it over yonder and call me in the mornin’,
G       A       D
small engine repair

Chorus:

D                 A
Weed cutters and leaf blowers
D                   G
Chainsaw rotors and lawnmower motors
D         A         Bm          G
One day turnaround, prices are fair
D       A    D
Small engine repair


Verse:
D                          F#m
I worked ten years for the water department,
G          F#m     Em
ditch rider on a big white horse
A                         Bm
Turn that wheel, you got irrigatin’ water
G                     D
from the mouth of the mother source
D                          F#m
Catfish heads and windblown apples
G              F#m           Em
blowing ’cross the cotton fields
A                         Bm
Back when farmers worked ten hour days
G                    A        D
and lived off their yearly yield

Chorus:

D                 A
Weed cutters and leaf blowers
D                   G
Chainsaw rotors and lawnmower motors
D         A         Bm          G
One day turnaround, prices are fair
D       A    D
Small engine repair

Bridge:
Bm                              F#m
And if a man’s heart was like a lawnmower engine
G                       D
I’d a done pretty good in my time
Bm                              F#m
Change the oil and keep the carburetor clean
C                               A
And mow down all the problems of life

Solo:

D                          F#m
I was born right here on the edge of West Texas
G          F#m     Em
’bout a mile from the Rio Grande
A                         Bm
Yeah, I done time, I can see you starin’
G                          D
at the skull on the back of my hand
D                               F#m
Now time ain’t nothin’ but a box of old parts
G              F#m           Em
on a busted-up cement floor
A                         Bm
Time ain’t nothin’ but a muddy old river,
G                       D A
rollin’ out my back door

Chorus:

D                 A
Weed cutters and leaf blowers
D                   G
Chainsaw rotors and lawnmower motors
D         A         Bm          G
One day turnaround, prices are fair
D       A    D
Small engine repair