When I Was King - Graham Parker

Capo at 2 intro: ??

G G C Em
When I was King I was not really the man I am now
G Am G C
I was like anyone sitting on a throne made out of china
G G C Em
When I was king I had already abdicated
C Am G C
Already melted my crown down to sell as scrap
C
But they'd run the first run of stamps
D G
People had cashed in their post office savings
C D C
To buy some and lick the back of my neck
(C) D
I just let them get on with it arrange the coronation
G C
I just didn't turn up, I just didn't turn up

You became Queen to a regime of fixed ideas
The subjects just outlines like figures in a shadow cabinet
And then we ruled over some green and pleasant land
With a frog and a princess not necessarily in that order

But if you want it to be What you want it to be
You'll have to dethrone me or have me decapitated
I didn't want to be King anyway I always preferred to hang out
With the servants, the servants
When I was King
When I was King there was no country left to rule
Jesters and fools were leaders all of them a royal pain
Now I'm a serf but I'm still trying to be a king
But putting the crown on is like putting a silk purse on a sow's ear
And if I want it to be Like I want it to be
I'll have to assassinate someone with a guitar as a gun
On it's good to be King I know that I've been there
G G
Many, many, many, many kingdoms ago When I was King

Repeat when I when I over G and C