A Front Row Seat To Hear Ole Johnny Sing Chords By Shel Silverstein & Jon Hayes
Chords used: A, E, D
Intro On 5th String: Open, 2nd fret, 3rd fret, 4th fret, 4th fret, 3rd fret, 2nd fret, A
A E
Now you know some fellas, they want fame
A
and fortune, and other fellas, they just wanna
E A D
swing, but all I wanted, all my life, was a TV
E
set and a truck and a wife and a front row
A
seat to hear ole Johnny sing.
Now the TV and the truck I got on credit, and I got that girl with a little old
woolworth ring, and life was warm, and life was sweet but still it was kinda incomplete without
a front row seat to hear ole Johnny sing.
A E A
Hey, John, do Walk The Line. Do Delia one
D/E
more time. And when you do them Cotton
E E E E
Fields you warm this heart of mine
E E
Bow Bow Bakabakabow
So one day I thought hey, I'm gonna do it! That's what I said. So I mortgaged the farm
and pawned her wedding ring. I sold the gold tooth out of my mouth and jumped in the
pickup and headed south for a front row seat to here ole Johnny sing.
I hit Nashville cold and wet and hungry. I said, "I'm here, bring him on, let him do his
thing!" Oh, but they told me down at the old pit grill that I'd have to go all the way
to Hendersonville for a front row seat to hear ole Johnny sing.
I found his house, knocked on the door, and it was opened... By a brown-haired girl and
a baby with a teethin' ring. I said, "I seen you somewhere before, but don't stand there
and block the door, I want a front row seat to hear ole Johnny sing!
A E A
Hey, John, do Walk The Line. Do Delia one
D/E
more time. And when you do Big River, John,
E E E E
you warm this heart of mine
E E
Bow Bow Bakabakabow
She said I'd have to go down to the Opry, and the fellah there said I'd have to wait
till Spring. He said, "We've been sold out for months and months and this poor, insane
fellah wants a front row seat to hear ole Johnny sing!"
Well, he said a couple more things and I started cryin'. And then he laughed at me, and
that's when I started to swing.
Well, I bust through the doors in a roarin' rage, crawled over the crowd till I reached
the stage, for a front row seat to hear ole Johnny sing!
A E A
Hey, John, do Walk The Line. Do Delia one
D/E
more time. And when you do Big River, John,
E E E E
you warm this heart of mine
E E
Bow Bow Bakabakabow
Then some crazy guard started shootin'. Wooh! I shot back, and the next thing I know I
was at winged, and on the floor. When a guy in a voice kinda deep and low said (do your
best Johnny Cash voice here), "Boy, that's a mighty long way to go for a front row seat to hear ANYBODY sing."
And I guess that judge, he weren't no music lover. I got 15 months, but that don't mean a
E A (Strum slower) A7/A
thing! 'Cause yesterday in the prison yard, a
D
Show come through, and hardy har... I got a
E (Normal strumming) A
Front row seat to hear ole Johnny sing!
A E
Hey, John, do Walk The Line. Do... John, do Dollar Bill... Do Teenaged - John, listen to
the man! Hey, I'm with you, John! Hey! Johnny! (Fade)
You can also end the song by playing the opening chords again and then strumming A.