Frank Turner - Mr Richards

the main riff is a muted G to C

verse 1 :
G – C
one fine day near the end of the tax year
C
mr richards was gripped by a new fear
D Am C D G – C
who would be at his retirement party

verse 2 :
G – C
and though he still had years to go before he
C
slipped over the edge of the workforce
D Am C D G – C
the question remained and in his wake there came an army

chorus :
Em C G D
what price creature comforts , what is this life really all about?
Em C G D
he drew a line between work and living , and work was winning out
Em C G D
and he worked for half his life , to spend the end just feeling tired out
Em C ( back to main riff ) G – C
that’s when his roof caved in

verse 3 :
G – C
and so he made a list of all the people he worked with
C
and cut it down to the ones he got on with
D Am C D G – C
paired each one off with the decade of his career

verse 4 :
G – C
and then he thought of all his friends from back home
C
the crazies , the ladies , the lovers he’d known
D Am C D G – C
and then he looked around his office and wondered why he was still here

chorus :
Em C G D
what price creature comforts , what is this life really all about?
Em C G D
he drew a line between work and living , and work was winning out
Em C G D
and he worked for half his life , to spend the end just feeling tired out
Em G
that’s when he realised that he scrimped and saved all his precious days
F
so he could buy icers and microwaves
Em D C
and he only looks forward to his holidays

that’s when his roof caved in .

bridge :
D Em Am C C/B
and it would be nice to have holiday homes and healthy bank statements and
Am D
fat little kids ,
D Em Am C C/B
and i guess you can be happy to dream all your dreams as camcorder records
Am D
of the things that you did ,
D Em Am C C/B
but as soon as your sleeping does it really matter what mattress you happen
Am D
to be sleeping on?
D Em F ( let ring )
as long as your living and your having fun; he always laughed at the
C ( let ring ) G – C
drop – outs , that he could never live that way .
F F Em
but the truth is mr richards was a coward , he was afraid .

instrumental break . Em C G D Em C G G F F G Em C

final verse :
C – G
mr richards decided on the very next morning
C
to make his life and work the same thing
D Am C D G
cleared he desk , he hit the road and he never retired .