Before The Money Came The Battle Of Bettye Lavette

Tom : F
  G  F  C   G   F   C   G   F   C
Hey, hey!
G F C

[Verse 1]
G
Clothes shootin’ don’t kill no birds
F C
I’m standin’ tall with the rest of the girls
G
Hangin’ on, to my mama’s every word
F C
Gonna’ sing ‘em out loud and conquer the world
F
All them faces on the pictures up there
C
Makes me remember when my table was bare
G
Livin’, at my mama’s house
F C7
Takin’ food, from my family’s mouth...before the money came

[Verse 2]
G
I was singing R’n’B back in ‘62
F C
Before you were born and your mama too
G
I knew David Ruffin when he was hopeless
F C
Sleeping on my floor before he crossed over
F
All my friends on the Grammy shows
C
I was stuck in Detroit trying to open doors
G
Record deals kept falling apart
F C7
One with Atlantic nearly broke my heart...before the money came

[Bridge]
Bb F C7
I got a lot to say
Bb F C7
So proud I was built this way
G
Some folks didn’t see my worth
F
Didn’t know where I fit in
G
Fourty years I kept on singing
F C7
Before the money started rolling in

[Guitar solo – 8 measures]
G   F   C   G   F   C   G   F   C   G   F   C

[Verse 3]
G
Oh, there was a time when I would call it luck
F C
If I got me a gig for fifty bucks
G
Now I got all these big decisions to make
F C
Never thought success would be hard to take
F
Shoes on my feet, more in the closet
C
Silk on my skin, more if I want it
G
All these years I kept my style
F C7
I wouldn’t cross over, so it took me a while...before the money came

[Bridge]
Bb F C7
Yo! I got so much to say
Bb F C7
So damn proud I was built this way
G
Some folks didn’t see my worth
F
Didn’t know where I fit in
G
Forty years I kept singing
F C7
Before the money started rolling in

[Outro]
  Bb     F       C7      Bb       F       C7
Before the money came, before the money came
Bb F C7
Before the money came, before the money came