A

[VERSE]

   A                          G            A
I built my own chains in the land of the free
                             B          E
A slave to a job that meant nothing to me
             A                     G         A
With three shiny new cars and a split level home
                           G       A
To furnish the tomb I was dying to own
 
     D
Then one day I wakened with fear in my eye
  A                                   E
Aware of a world that was passing me by
        A                      G          A
And I knew that my savings of silver and gold
                                G        A
Would mean not a thing when my body was cold
 
[CHORUS]

         A                      D        A
Because life is a song for the dying to sing
                             B        E
It's got to have feeling to mean anything
       A                      D         A
And a man can get by without silver or gold
                             G            A
With bread for the body and song for the soul
 
[INTERLUDE]

A G x3

[VERSE]

     A                     G             A
I'm living my life by the lessons I've learned
                              B           E
And not looking back at the bridges I've burned
            A                         G         A
'Cause the time that we travel from cradle to grave
                                G          A
Was meant to be spent and not meant to be saved

        D 
And I know there are some who will say I'm a fool
       A                                     E
But I don't give a damn for the people that do
           A                     G           A
'Cause if down in a dungeon is where they belong
                                   G         A
Well, that's their misfortune and none of my own
 
[CHORUS]

         A                      D        A
Because life is a song for the dying to sing
                             B        E
It's got to have feeling to mean anything
       A                      D         A
And a man can get by without silver or gold
                             G            A
With bread for the body and song for the soul