Biography:
Mike Ness (born Michael James Ness, born April 3, 1962) is a country music singer and guitarist, best known as the vocalist, guitarist, and chief songwriter for the American punk rock band Social Distortion.
Ness was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts and raised in Fullerton in Orange County, California. Kicked out of his parents' home in Fullerton at the age of fifteen, he dabbled in drugs and petty crime, involving himself in the punk scene and founding Social Distortion in 1978.
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Ballad of a Lonely Man
Capo 1
This is an acoustic version that Ness often played often during radio station interviews
during his Cheating At Solitaire tour.
Capo the 1st fret, and this chord chart is 100% accurate
The trick to playing this song acoustically is to capture Mike's (very fast) version of
Johnny Cash's strumming style
To get a smooth flow entering the chorus, Mike walks down from G to Em: Strum the G chord,
then pick 6th String 3rd Fret, then 6th String 2nd Fret, then strum the Em chord. Sounds sweet.
=============================================================
[VERSE]
G C G
I'm young and I'm strong,
D C G
I've got this God forsaken world by the balls.
D C G
I've got a one-way ticket to freedom
D G
Ain't no one now, gonna take it from me
[VERSE]
G C G
I was a soldier, age twenty-one
D C G
In a war not sure what I was fighting for
D C G
And yet I turned from a boy to a man there
D G
Goodbye to innocence, and a sweet sixteen
[CHORUS]
Em C G D
My whole life, I could not arrange
Em C G D
My wicked ways, I could never change
Em C D G
Don't try, don't try now, to understand
D G
This is the ballad, of a lonely man
[VERSE]
G C G
Close to me, is a photograph
D C G
Of a family left far, far behind
D C G
Ah, once I had love, it slipped away from
D G
I searched a lifetime, but I could not find
[VERSE]
G C G
In a hospital bed, I'm violently ill
D C G
Just one more drink nurse I swear to God
D C G
I've got my St. Anthony and my whiskey
D G
Yes I'm a veteran of three foreign wars.
[CHORUS]
Em C G D
My whole life, I could not arrange
Em C G D
My wicked ways, I could never change
Em C D G
Don't try, don't try now, to understand
G D G
This is the ballad, of a lonely man,
G D G
This is ballad, of a lonely man,
G D G
This is the ballad, of a lone-ly man
Capo 1
This is an acoustic version that Ness often played often during radio station interviews
during his Cheating At Solitaire tour.
Capo the 1st fret, and this chord chart is 100% accurate
The trick to playing this song acoustically is to capture Mike's (very fast) version of
Johnny Cash's strumming style
To get a smooth flow entering the chorus, Mike walks down from G to Em: Strum the G chord,
then pick 6th String 3rd Fret, then 6th String 2nd Fret, then strum the Em chord. Sounds sweet.
=============================================================
[VERSE]
G C G
I'm young and I'm strong,
D C G
I've got this God forsaken world by the balls.
D C G
I've got a one-way ticket to freedom
D G
Ain't no one now, gonna take it from me
[VERSE]
G C G
I was a soldier, age twenty-one
D C G
In a war not sure what I was fighting for
D C G
And yet I turned from a boy to a man there
D G
Goodbye to innocence, and a sweet sixteen
[CHORUS]
Em C G D
My whole life, I could not arrange
Em C G D
My wicked ways, I could never change
Em C D G
Don't try, don't try now, to understand
D G
This is the ballad, of a lonely man
[VERSE]
G C G
Close to me, is a photograph
D C G
Of a family left far, far behind
D C G
Ah, once I had love, it slipped away from
D G
I searched a lifetime, but I could not find
[VERSE]
G C G
In a hospital bed, I'm violently ill
D C G
Just one more drink nurse I swear to God
D C G
I've got my St. Anthony and my whiskey
D G
Yes I'm a veteran of three foreign wars.
[CHORUS]
Em C G D
My whole life, I could not arrange
Em C G D
My wicked ways, I could never change
Em C D G
Don't try, don't try now, to understand
G D G
This is the ballad, of a lonely man,
G D G
This is ballad, of a lonely man,
G D G
This is the ballad, of a lone-ly man
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