you know you've been playin' your guitar too long

Here's the next in a series of strange songs I've been writing.
Chords are:
Am F C G
Am F C E
(repeat until end)


You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When all your picks lie broken on the floor around you
You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When your shoulder aches from strummin'
You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When all your fingers just won't stop bleedin'
You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When you fall asleep still pickin'

You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When you nearly faint from hunger
You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When the place you sit stinks of sweat and urine
You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When the friends that used to live with you are movin;
You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When all your strings are broken, and you're still goin'

Imagine you pick up the Sunday paper
And read all the ordinary news
Until with a tremble and some dread anticipation
You flip to the obituary page

There in astonishment you rub your tired eyes
But this crazy morbid headline just won't go away
MAN PLAYS HIS GUITAR TO DEATH?
Yes,it ended with a question mark. apparently
The writers and editors could not believe
The story either, but it was corroborated by the police
Befuddled police.

One day not so long ago the article read
A man in his middle age
Started playin' his brand new guitar
Despite frequent and persistent attempts
Of his family and doctors to move him
He just would not stop
Playin' his guitar too long
He was playin' his guitar too long

One day not so long ago to the great
And mournful relief of his family and doctors
The man died playin' his guitar too long
Broken strings and all.

They buried him with his beloved instrument
So when he got to heaven he could keep playin'
At least they're hoping somewhere up there
They've got an extra set of strings.

You may be wonderin' why nothing more was done
To stop this man from reaching his chosen tragic end.
But may I ask you why you would try
To stop him at all after all he died
Strummin' playin' his guitar too long
What a strange, glorious, musical, magical end.
Playin' his guitar too long
Playin' his guitar too long.

One day not so far from now if I meet that man
In heaven or in hell
I hope that I will remember to congratulate him
On his incredible suicidal ingenuity

If you know a better way to go
Please let me know
And you might want to tell me rather soon.
Cause I'm still playing my guitar

You know you've been playin' your guitar too long
When you write a song and it turns out anything at all like
This one.