[Verse 1]


G              Am   Bm
It was only an old overcoat
C          G        D
Faded and worn had seen better days
             G           Am           Bm       C
But when it hung on the stairs I felt safe and warm
      G       D          Em
As I knew my father was there
   G       D          G
I knew my father was home


[Verse 2]


    G        Am          Bm
It smelt of tobacco and toil
        C           G              D
As it stood like a ghost from the war
 G          Am             Bm    C
Guarding us all from the world outside
G           D        Em
Keeping us safe and warm
G           D        G
Keeping us from all harm


[Chorus]

         C              D        Bm          C
Through summer's sweet song the coat stood strong
    G            D       Em
My life lived without a care
       C           D        Bm           C
As I laughed and played the coat never strayed
          G            D            G
From its place at the foot of the stairs


[Verse 3]

    G            Am            Bm             C
On dark winter nights I would watch down the lane
    G      D              G
To see my father trudge home
     G           Am             Bm     C
His tired bones wrapped in the old overcoat
       G                  D         G
As he fought through the rain and storm


[Verse 4]

       G           Am            Bm          C
I had just turned ten when they laid him to rest
      G      D           G
On a grey christmas eve morn
G            Am       Bm    C
Santa never came this way again
         G          D         Em
And the coat stood lost and forlorn
         G          D         G
And the coat stood empty and alone


[Chorus]


 C         D      Bm              C
Faces and places slip through my dreams
      G        D            Em
And memories fade with the dawn
    C        D       Bm             C
But I still see the coat standing strong
 G          D        G
Keeping us from all harm


[Verse 5]


G           Am       Bm       C
If I had a chance to go back again
           G           D   G
To that christmas of long ago
          G       Am   Bm        C
I would wrap the coat around my dad
    G        D        Em
To keep him safe and warm
    G        D        G
To keep him from all harm


[Outro]

G              Am    Bm
It was only an old overcoat
 C         G        D           G
Faded and worn had seen better days