«Town Without Pity»
(Dmitri Tiomkin — Ned Washington)
[Notes: 1) the time signature is 12/8, but is notated throughout as 4/4;
2) as usual, the chords notated here are a composite of the various
parts — I don’t think there even is a guitar on the record.]
Intro:
Bmadd9 Emadd9
/ / / / / / / /
G9 F#7sus4 F#7+5
/ / / / / / / /
Verse 1:
Bm
When you’re young and so in love as we
Em
And bewildered by the world we see
F#m7-5/C B7
Why do people hurt us so
Em7 Gm6
Only those in love would know
D/A A+ G6 C#7-5 F#7sus4 F#7+5-9
[x3400x] [21203x]
What a town without pity can do
Verse 2:
If we stop to gaze upon a star
People talk about how bad we are
Ours is not an easy age
We’re like tigers in a cage
A13 A7+5 A7 A13 D Am7/E D7/F#
What a town without pity can do
Bridge:
G G6/D Gmaj7 G6/D
The young have problems many problems
G Bm7-5 /F E7sus4 E7
We need an understanding heart
A A6/E Amaj7 F#m
Why don’t they help us try and help us
Bm [N.C.] E [N.C.] A F#7+5-9
Before this clay and granite planet falls apart
Verse 3:
Take these eager lips and hold me fast
I’m afraid this kind of joy can’t last
How can we keep love alive
How can anything survive
D/A A+ G6 C#7-5 F#7sus4 F#7
When these little minds tear you in two
Gmaj7 A7 D G7+5
What a town without pity can do
[key change to Cm]
Instrumental break (first two lines of verse 3, in Cm; chord variations
implied by background vocals):
Cm Cm6 Cm/maj7 Cm
/ / / / / / / /
Fm Fm6 Fm/maj7 Fmadd9
/ / / / / / / /
Gm7-5/Db C7
How can we keep love alive
Fm7 Abm6
How can anything survive
Eb/Bb Bb+ Ab6 D7-5 G7sus4 G7
When these little minds tear you in two
Abmaj7 G7sus4 G7
What a town without pity can do
Coda:
Cm /B /Bb /A /Ab G [N.C.]
No, it isn’t very pretty what a town without pity
Cm
Ca-a-an do
1 11
(Cm) Fm Cm9/maj7 [808820]
/ / / / / / / / /
(…do)
— another ace 60’s tab from Andrew Rogers
