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GOOFUS
Words by Gus Kahn, Music by Wayne King and William Harold - 1930
Intro:------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
D7 - - -
Chorus:--------- ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
D7        Bm D7        Bm G         Em G         Em
D7        Bm D7        Bm G         Em G         Gdim
D7        Bm D7        Bm G         Em G         Em
E7 A7 D7 G
G - F# -
F - E7        A7 D         D7
G - F# -
F - E7        A7 D         D7
D7        Bm D7        Bm G         Em G         Em
D7        Bm D7        Bm G         Em G         Gdim
D7        Bm D7        Bm G         Em G         Em
E7 A7 D7 G  (repeat chorus)
Ending:----------- ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
D7 - - G
8-beat intro.  Play 4-beats for each cell, reading from left to right.
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Chorus:
I was born on a farm out in I -o -way, A flam -ing youth who was bound that he'd fly a -way,
I packed my grip and I grabed my sax -o -phone.  (alternate words: grabed my ax, banjo that is.)
Can't read notes, but I play an -y -thing by ear, I made up tunes on the sounds that I used to hear;
When I'd start to play folks used to say, "Sounds a lit -tle Goo -fus to me."
Corn -fed chords ap -peal to me, I like rus -tic har -mon -y,
Hold the note and change the key, That's called "Goof -us."
Not ac -cord -ing to the rules That you learn at mus -ic schools,
But the folks just dance like fools, They go "Goof -us."
Got a job but I just could -n't keep it long, The lead -er said that I played all the mus -ic wrong,
So I stepped out with an out -fit of my own.
Got to -geth -er a new kind of or -ches -tree, and we all played just the same "goo -fus" har -mon -y,
And I must ad -mit we made a hit, "Goo -fus" has been luck -y for me.
_______
Sound Clip
Listen to Jim play "Goofus" on the plectrum and 5-string banjos (752k mp3)
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Arranged by Jim Bottorff
 
This Chord Chart may not appear correctly with some browsers.  It should be viewed with a full size window.
The chord names should appear in single rows.   Let me know of any problems.
 
email: jbott@ix.netcom.com