Intro
F F Dm A# F
F F Dm A# F
[Verse 1]
F C Dm A# F C Dm A# F
You say you're down and out and need some help to get you through each day
F C Dm A# F C Dm A# F
Well, here's a thought or two I've used and like to pass them on your way
A# F Gm7 C C F C
I found them lying there, the answers that you say you're looking for
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Make what you will of them and you can change the way it was before
[Chorus]
C A# F
You got to ma-ake it by yourself
C A# F
You know you got to make it by yourself
Dm G
I'll be your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
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But you got to try and help yourself before I can
[Verse 2]
F C Dm A# F C Dm A# F
I hear you talk of all the happiness and emptiness you've known
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Well, let me reassure you, never were you really all a-lone
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They say in quiet desperation many people cannot see
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They cannot see the simple truth that's not the way it has to be
[Chorus]
C A# F
You got to fi-ind it by yourself
C A# F
God helps the man who helps himself, amen
Dm G
I am your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
A# F F F Dm A#
But you got to try and help yourself before I can
[Bridge]
A#maj7 Am7 Am
We got to help (we got to help) each other (each other)
A# Am Gm7 A#
You got to help (you to help) your brother when you can
C
When you can
[Verse 3]
F C Dm A# F C Dm A# F
Now don't you think that I was preaching, I'm just reaching out for you
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'Cause that's the only way that I know how to get the message through
A# F Gm7 C A# A C
Then you, in turn, have got to learn and teach it to somebody who
F C Dm A# F
Who felt the happiness, the emptiness the same as you
[Chorus]
C A# F
You got to ma-ake it by yourself
C A# F
You know you got to make it by yourself
Dm G
I'll be your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
A# F F F Dm Dm A# A# F
But you got to try and help yourself before I can (hold)