Intro G C D G C D G There used to be a cafe a few blocks away, C D G D Open seven days, called 'The Brilliant Mistake' G Where a crow-haired girl with scarlet lips C D G D And slender hips served up coffee and cake Am On a crackling stereo the ghosts of Sun Ra, Em D Dsus Charlie Parker, Miles and Coltrane blew G C I'd kick back in my chair, that sweet honey'd jazz in the air D The sun shining through G It was the nearest thing to hip Am It was the nearest thing to hip C D G In this sh*thole? and it's gone G It was the nearest thing to hip Am It was the nearest thing to hip C D G In this sh*thole? and it's gone GCDGCD G Everywhere that I go I see streets that are low C D G D On distinction and high on the ban*l and the bland G How did we get to this? We plumbed the abyss C D G D By the twisted grace of the law of supply and demand Am Well, there's no use crying and no use sighing over Em D DDsus Stone, wood, wire, glass and cement G But there's a little record store with a wooden floor C D That ain't there no more that I used to frequent G It was the nearest thing to hip Am It was the nearest thing to hip C D G In this sh*thole? and it's gone G It was the nearest thing to hip Am It was the nearest thing to hip C D G In this sh*thole? and it's gone Em D C G Now I need to get out of this.. hullabaloo Em D C G And I remember an old-fashioned bar that I once knew Bb Am C G With an old-fashioned barman wearing old-fashioned clothes Am D But when I get there.. it's been bulldozed G So I follow my nose down Comatose Lane C D G D Through the stripped back, ripped up wastes of Woebegone Square G Till I find myself on Deadbeat Street, C D D My feet beginning to ache, despair in the air Am The only thing bright in this blighted town Em D Dsus D Dsus Are the billboard adverts everywhere displayed like mocking shades G And the musty, dusty second-hand bookstore C D Is now a scum-encrusted amusement arcade G It was the nearest thing to hip Am It was the nearest thing to hip C D G In this sh*thole? and it's gone G It was the nearest thing to hip Am It was the nearest thing to hip C D G In this sh*thole? and it's gone GCD G .. and it's gone GCDG