Matthew

Words and Music by John Denver
from Back Home Again (1974)


G                       Am      D7                         G
I had an uncle name of Matthew...he was his father's only boy
                          Am      D7                              G
Born just south of Colby, Kansas...he was his mother's pride and joy

             G       G/B     C        G/B     Am
   Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on
    D7                               G C G
   Love was just a way to live and die
             G/B    C     G/B     Am
   Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field
     D7                              G
   Blue was just the Kansas summer sky

                             Am    D7                       G
And all the stories that he told me back when I was just a lad
                          Am      D7                           G
All the memories that he gave me...all the good times that he had
                     Am      D7                       G
Growin' up a Kansas farmboy...life was mostly havin' fun
                        Am     D7                           G
Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders behind a mule, beneath the sun

             G       G/B     C        G/B     Am
   Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on
    D7                               G C G
   Love was just a way to live and die
             G/B    C     G/B     Am
   Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field
     D7                              G
   Blue was just the Kansas summer sky

                               Am       D7                             G
Well, I guess there were some hard times and I'm told some years were lean
                     Am  D7                               G
They had a storm in '47...twister came and stripped 'em clean
                               Am     D7                               G
He lost the farm and lost his family...he lost the wheat, he lost his home
                         Am  D7                         G
But he found the family bible and faith as solid as a stone

             G       G/B     C        G/B     Am
   Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on
    D7                               G C G
   Love was just a way to live and die
             G/B    C     G/B     Am
   Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field
     D7                              G
   Blue was just the Kansas summer sky

                       Am        D7                        G
So he came to live at our house...and he came to work the land
                            Am    D7                      G
He came to ease my daddy's burdens and he came to be my friend
                           Am     D7                          G
So I wrote this down for Matthew...it's for him this song is sung
                        Am     D7                           G
Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders behind a mule, beneath the sun

             G       G/B     C        G/B     Am
   Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on
    D7                               G C G
   Love was just a way to live and die
             G/B    C     G/B     Am
   Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field
     D7                              G
   Blue was just the Kansas summer sky
             G       G/B     C        G/B     Am
   Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on
    D7                               G C G
   Love was just a way to live and die
             G/B    C     G/B     Am
   Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field
     D7                              G
   Blue was just the Kansas summer sky