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Song written by Billy Bragg, also a novel by Ernest Hemmingway and a Howard Hawks film from 1944 starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Walter Brennan.
Chords bolded above the lyrics, further notes on the music and arrangement below. Some liberties taken in the lyrics based on variations by Lars Frederiksen (see link below) and updates in the final verse.
(instrumental intro)
G C G
Get up in the morning and head out to school
Em D G
Mother says there’ll be no work next year
C G
Qualifications once the golden rule
Em D G
Are now just… Pieces of paper
Chorus:
Just because you’re better than me
Doesn’t mean I’m lazy
Just because you’re going forward
Doesn’t mean I’m going backwards
(instrumental)
If you look the part well then you’ll get the job
Last year’s trousers with your old school shoes
The truth is son it’s a buyer’s market
They can’t afford to pick and choose
Chorus:
Just because you’re better than me
Doesn’t mean I’m lazy
Just because I dress like this
Doesn’t mean I’m a communist
(instrumental)
Factories closing and the army’s full
I don’t know what I’m going to do
I’ve come to see that in the land of the free
There’s only a room for the chosen few
Chorus:
Just because you’re better than me
Doesn’t mean I’m lazy
Just because you’re going forward
Doesn’t mean I’m going backwards
(solos)
At sixty one you’re on top of the scrap heap
At sixteen you were top of your class
Forty five years through the service entrance
Strapped on this accordion and never went back
Chorus
(instrumental)
Chorus
(instrumental, end)
Notes on the music:
We will be using the same chord progression throughout including verses, chorus, and solos.
Typical 4 bars:
G C G Em D G
1xxx2xxx3xxx4xxx
Arrangement based loosely on Lars Frederiksen version, see link below.
Instrumental melody 4 bars same as verses/chorus, solos 8 bars same chord progression, as many as needed.
Links:
Lars Frederiksen and The Bastards version here.
More about the film and novel here.