G  C  F  G    C  F  G

[Verse 1]
           C         F
I was only nineteen
                     G
The morning you were born
                        C
With your hair fine and red
         F            G    F
And your eyes like my own


[Verse 2]
         Am
Barely a woman
     G      D     F
With only a song
                   C
I sang to make you smile
    F                  C     Am
And held you all night long


[Verse 3]
                 C        F
Home through the streets
               G
With you in my arms
            C
Cold winter mornings
     F        G     F
In a Colorado town


[Verse 4]
              Am
I've seen you stumble
G                 D     F
You've watched me fall
                  C
You know I've got nothing
    F                 C    Am
You know we've got it all


[Verse 5]
                       C           F
Trucks roll by and the rain coming down
                             G
Does that old parka keep you dry?
                              C
Sixteen years old, out on the road
          F          G    F
Trying to get to the sky


[Verse 6]
           Am
Back in September
    G                D      F
You called me on the phone
                C
"Ma, you know I love you
      F               C     Am
But I gotta be own my own"


[Verse 7]
                         C     F
"Comes a time in a boy's life
                      G
When he's got to be a man
                    C
Please don't try to find me
       F           G       F
Please try to understand"


[Verse 8]
                 Am
Now he's playing guitar
     G             D     F
In a rock and roll band
               C
Looking like a baby
F              C    Am
Talking like a man


[Verse 9]
                 C        F
The life of a guitar man
                  G
Is a hard life to live
           C
What can I tell you
         F           G      F
You were born to the breed


[Verse 10]
                                    Am
Rain comes down, the trucks rolling by
            G                     D     F
Is that old poncho gonna keep you dry?
                           C
Sixteen years old, January child
F                    C    Am
Trying to get to the sky


[Verse 11]
                 C        F
I've watched you growing
                  G
Through all these years
               C
You've seen me stumble
F                 G      F
I've watched your tears


[Verse 12]
                    Am
Sometimes there was roses
G                   D       F
Sometimes there was thorns
                        C
But I know you're gonna make it
   F                C     Am
As sure as you were born


[Verse 13]
                         C       F
And I hope from what you wanted
                 G
You get what you need
                    C
I know you're gonna make it
         F           G      F
You were born to the breed


[Outro]
                           C
Sixteen years old, January child
F                    C   F  C  F  C
Trying to get to the sky______