Balthazar Impresario chords by Frank Turner

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Key: D

Difficulty: Novice

Verse 1:
            D
My name is Balthazar, Impresario
             Em                          D
And you'll find me at the bottom of the page
            D
I have artist's hands, though I'm a working man
          Em                            D
But my craft has been forgotten by the age
       A                                  G
So tonight will be my last night on the stage

Verse 2:
              D
This is my family's trade, my father built this place
           Em                         D
At the turning of the twentieth century
                D
I have been working here, for some fifty years
          Em                                D
But the young these days are glued to TV screens
         A                         G
And the old girl is dying on her feet

Chorus:
G                   D
Once more to the boards
                  F#m
One more curtain call
                   Em                             G
Give the crowd everything they're asking for and more
                   D
Always make them laugh
                  F#m
Try to make them cry
                  Em                                   D
Always take the stage like it's the last night of your life

Verse 3:
                   D
My friends from theatre school all thought I was a fool
       Em                              D
For leaving Shakespeare for the music hall
             D
And now my son's left home, and set out on his own
          Em                                    D
And the critics think we're quaint but set to fall
            A                             G
But they've only seen the show from the stalls

Chorus:
G                   D
Once more to the boards
                  F#m
One more curtain call
                   Em                             G
Give the crowd everything they're asking for and more
                   D
Always make them laugh
                  F#m
Try to make them cry
                  Em                                   G
Always take the stage like it's the last night of your life

Bridge 1:
G                         D                          F#m
And all the things I've seen behind these tattered seams
             Em                                         G
And all the upturned faces with the lamplight in their eyes
                     D                     F#m
And each imperfect turn flickers as it burns
               Em                             A
Only lasts a moment but for me they'll never die

Bridge 2:
           G
We are respected
             A
We're not remembered
                         G
We are the ghosts of Vaudeville
               A
Unnumbered
                           G
We are the fathers of the halls
                          A
Yeah but we'll never be famous
                                          G
We aren't just artists, we are something more:

We're entertainers

Instrumental:
G    D    F#m     Em    G
G    D    F#m     Em    G

Verse 4:
              D
I smooth my thinning hair in a gilded mirror
    Em                               D
To try to hide the tell-signs of my age
             D
My name is Balthazar, Impresario
        Em                                 D
And tonight will be my last night on the stage.