Last Great American Whale by Lou Reed, tabs and chords at PlayUkuleleNET

Last Great American Whale

Biography:

Lou Reed (March 2, 1942 - October 27, 2013) was an American rock artist originally from Brooklyn, New York, USA. Especially while a member of the The Velvet Underground in the 1960s, Reed broke new ground for the rock genre in several important dimensions, introducing more mature and intellectual themes to what was then considered a largely simplistic genre of music.

In 1964 Reed moved to New York City and began working as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records.

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Four years of hard work!

This month of May we celebrated four years on the air. We continue working on the dissemination of this wonderful instrument, thank you for participating in our story!

Riff repeats all the way through.

[Verse 1]

D D A Asus A G G A
They say he didn't have an enemy
D D A Asus A G
His was a greatness to behold
D D A Asus A G G A
He was the last surviving progeny
D D A Asus A G
The last one on this side of the world

D D A Asus A G G A
He measured a half mile from tip to tail
D D A Asus A G
Silver and black with powerful fins
D D A Asus A G G A
They say he could split a mountain in two
D D A Asus A G
That's how we got the Grand Canyon

[Chorus]

D D A Asus A G G A
Last great American whale
D D A Asus A G
Last great American whale
D D A Asus A G G A
Last great American whale
D D A Asus A G
Last great American whale

[Verse 2]

D D A Asus A G G A
Some say they saw him at the Great Lakes
D D A Asus A G
Some say they saw him off of Florida
D D A Asus A G G A
My mother said she saw him in Chinatown
D D A Asus A G
But you can't always trust your mother

D D A Asus A G G A
Off the Carolinas the sun shines brightly in the day
D D A Asus A G
The lighthouse glows ghostly there at night
D D A Asus A G G A
The chief of a local tribe had killed a racist mayor's son
D D A Asus A G
And he'd been on death row since 1958

[Verse 3]

D D A Asus A G G A
The mayor's kid was a rowdy pig
D D A Asus A G
Spit on Indians and lots worse
D D A Asus A G G A
The old chief buried a hatchet in his head
D D A Asus A G
Life compared to death for him seemed worse

D D A Asus A G G A
The tribal brothers gathered in the lighthouse to sing
D D A Asus A G
And tried to conjure up a storm or rain
D D A Asus A G G A
The harbor parted, the great whale sprang full up
D D A Asus A G
And caused a huge tidal wave

[Verse 4]

D D A Asus A G G A
The wave crushed the jail and freed the chief
D D A Asus A G
The tribe let out a roar
D D A Asus A G G A
The whites were drowned, the browns and reds set free
D D A Asus A G
But sadly one thing more

D D A Asus A G G A
Some local yokel member of the NRA
D D A Asus A G
Kept a bazooka in his living room
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And thinking he had the chief in his sights
D D A Asus A G
Blew the whale's brains out with a lead harpoon

[Chorus]

D D A Asus A G G A
Last great American whale
D D A Asus A G
Last great American whale
D D A Asus A G G A
Last great American whale
D D A Asus A G
Last great American whale

[Verse 5]

D D A Asus A G G A
Well Americans don't care for much of anything
D D A Asus A G
Land and water the least
D D A Asus A G G A
And animal life is low on the totem pole
D D A Asus A G
With human life not worth more than infected yeast

D D A Asus A G G A
Americans don't care too much for beauty
D D A Asus A G
They'll shit in a river, dump battery acid in a stream
D D A Asus A G G A
They'll watch dead rats wash up on the beach
D D A Asus A G
And complain if they can't swim

D D A Asus A G G A
They say things are done for the majority
D D A Asus A G
Don't believe half of what you see and none of what you hear
D D A Asus A G G A
It's like what my painter friend Donald said to me
D D A Asus A G
"Stick a fork in their ass and turn them over, they're done"