This Guitar Is For Sale

Shel Silverstein


This guitar is for sale.
I'll let her go cheap,
Tho' she's pretty to look at,
She don't earn her keep.
She can roar like the west wind,
She can weep.
She can wail.
But the tunes that she plays ain't sellin' today,
This guitar is for sale.

She's laid here beside me
On cold winter nights.
She's got me in trouble
She's won me some fights,
We both came out all right!

She knows every sad song
That Hank ever wrote.
Just touch her once gently,
And she'll take you on home.
She'll tell you sad stories
'Bout junk yards and jails
And a fool with a song,
And a love that's gone wrong.
This guitar is for sale.

She's rode 'cross this country
On freight trains and trucks
Hung 'round pawn shop windows
When we've been down on our luck
And we've been down on our luck!

So please treat her kindly.
Keep her out of the rain.
It's funny you're askin'...
I never gave her a name.
If you think she looks weary,
You've been readin' our mail.
If you've got the dough,
Take her and go,
This guitar is for sale.

She's won me some ladies
With her sweet lovin' songs
And she stayed right here with me
When the ladies were gone.
And the ladies are gone!

But hard times and troubles
Been doggin' our tale.
If you've got the dough,
Buddy, take her and go,
This guitar is for sale.


Lyrics submitted by knate15

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2 Comments

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  • 0
    Memory
    This is one of my favorite songs. I love Bobby Bare's rendition of this great song. Did you ever have an irrational attachment to an inanimate object? Did you ever sell a car and shed a tear when you hand over the keys and then watch the new owner drive away? Or did you ever move out of a home where you have lived for many years and drop another tear when you drive away? I have an old Harmony guitar that I bought off the shelf in Gaylord, Michigan back in 1972 for about $65 and it would break my heart if I ever had to part with it. I now own many other guitars (Fender Telecaster, Martin, Epiphone, Ovation) but I catch myself grabbing my good old Harmony more often than all the rest of them put together. This guitar IS NOT for sale.
    Hoseron April 08, 2014   Link
  • 0
    Memory
    If you can't understand or relate to the meaning of this song, nobody can explain it to you.
    Hoseron April 08, 2014   Link

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