Purple Toupee by They Might Be Giants
[Convention: each chord is two beats/half a measure. A dash indicates that
the chord is held for another two beats; two chords with a slash between
them are held for one beat/a quarter of a measure each.]
Intro:
A D E C# F#m B
E A B E
1.
G — C G
I remember the year I went to camp
C G A D
heard about some lady named Selma and some blacks
G — C G
somebody put their fingers in the president’s ears
C G D G
and it wasn’t too much later they came out with Johnson’s Wax
D — G —
I remember the book repository
D — G —
where they crowned the king of Cuba
G — C G
That’s all I can think of but I’m sure there’s something else
C G D E
way down inside me I can feel it coming back
Chorus:
|: A D E C# F#m B
Purple toupee will show the way when summer brings you down
E A B E 😐
(purple toupee when summer brings you down)
purple toupee and gold lame will turn your brain around
(purple toupee and gold lame)
2.
Chinese people were fighting in the park
we tried to help them fight no one appreciated that
Martin X was mad when they outlawed bell bottoms
ten years later they were sharing the same cell
I shouted «Free the Expo ’67»
till they stepped on my hair and they told me I was fat
Now I’m very big I’m a big important man
and the only thing that’s different is underneath my hat
(Chorus)
F#m B E C#
Purple toupee is here to stay
F#m B E D
after the hair has gone away
A — B — E
the purple brigade is marching from the grave
Bb
We’re on some kind of mission
F
we have an obligation
Eb
we have to wear toupees
G
——
[Here’s some alternate chords that may be a bit easier… or perhaps not. 🙂
In any case, capo up 2]
G C D B Em A
D G A D
1.
F — Bb F
Bb F G C
F — Bb F
Bb F C F
C — F —
C — F —
F — Bb F
Bb F C D
Chorus:
|: G C D B Em A
D G A D 😐
Em A D B
Em A D C
G — A — D
Ab
Eb
Db
F
-E.M.