Poetry by Charles 'Hank' Bukowski
Original: Roll the Dice
B F#m7 G#m C#m Ebdim E
B E
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
A B E
otherwise, don’t even start.
B E
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
B G#m
this could mean losing girlfriends,
C#m
wives, relatives, jobs and
A B7
maybe your mind.
B
go all the way.
E
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
A B
it could mean freezing on a
E
park bench.
B
it could mean jail,
G#m
it could mean derision,
C#m
mockery,
A
isolation.
F#m7
isolation is the gift,
G#m
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
A
how much you really want to
F#m7
do it.
G
and you’ll do it
E
despite rejection and the worst odds
A B
and it will be better tha
E
anything else
E7
you can imagine.
B
if you’re going to try,
E
go all the way.
A B
there is no other feeling like
E
that.
A B
you will be alone with the gods
C#m
and the nights will flame with
A B7
fire.
E A B
do it, do it, do it.
E
do it.
A B
all the way
A B E7
all the way.
B
you will ride life straight to
E A
perfect laughter, its
G
the only good fight
E E7
there is.
B F#m7 G#m C#m Ebdim E