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© Copyright 1998-2010
Raphael Koster.
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My Neighborhood

Well, I go walking through my neighborhood alone at night
Past the empty storefronts in my hat, coat and tie
Punk kids might threaten me but I'm too old to die
I've been living here for too damn long

People 'round here don't treat the street with the respect she deserves
Got my first apartment here in 1949
Went to school 'round the corner past the five and dime
Met my wife there bagging groceries while I stood in line
Been living here for too damn long

And it's not like things haven't changed
There didn't used to be the need for a streetlight
Building 'cross the way burned down a few years back
A good friend of mine, well, he lost his life
But the more things change, the more they stay the same

I'm not about to give up this neighborhood without a fight
These new folks moving in sing new words to the same old songs
I am the neighborhood, and I'm too old to die
I've been living here for too damn long...
Words & Music by Raph Koster. © Copyright 1999 Raphael Koster

This tune is played in B minor, but I capo up at either 4 or 5 when I play it. I think the recording is at 5, putting it in F#m. The structure of the song is pretty simple--there's just verses and a bridge--but sometimes the last line of the verse repeats.

The basic chord forms for the verse are:

x20202 x10202 
x00202 x20020
320001 x10010 244322
xx5430 xx4320 224432   fill chord: x2022x

The bridge is:

x00211 x00201
x02010 032000
x00211 x00201
x02010 032430
022100 x44300 x554xx

The coda:

(starts on the fill chord from the verse)
x2022x
x5455x
x1011x
x21320