Intro
C C Am F C
C C Am F C
[Verse 1]
C G Am F C G Am F C
You say you're down and out and need some help to get you through each day
C G Am F C G Am F C
Well, here's a thought or two I've used and like to pass them on your way
F C Dm7 G G C G
I found them lying there, the answers that you say you're looking for
C G Am F C
Make what you will of them and you can change the way it was before
[Chorus]
G F C
You got to ma-ake it by yourself
G F C
You know you got to make it by yourself
Am D
I'll be your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
F C C C Am F C
But you got to try and help yourself before I can
[Verse 2]
C G Am F C G Am F C
I hear you talk of all the happiness and emptiness you've known
C G Am F C G Am F
Well, let me reassure you, never were you really all a-lone
F C Dm7 G F E G
They say in quiet desperation many people cannot see
C G Am F C
They cannot see the simple truth that's not the way it has to be
[Chorus]
G F C
You got to fi-ind it by yourself
G F C
God helps the man who helps himself, amen
Am D
I am your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
F C C C Am F
But you got to try and help yourself before I can
[Bridge]
Fmaj7 Em7 Em
We got to help (we got to help) each other (each other)
F Em Dm7 F
You got to help (you to help) your brother when you can
G
When you can
[Verse 3]
C G Am F C G Am F C
Now don't you think that I was preaching, I'm just reaching out for you
C G Am F C G Am F
'Cause that's the only way that I know how to get the message through
F C Dm7 G F E G
Then you, in turn, have got to learn and teach it to somebody who
C G Am F C
Who felt the happiness, the emptiness the same as you
[Chorus]
G F C
You got to ma-ake it by yourself
G F C
You know you got to make it by yourself
Am D
I'll be your friend and I'll lend a helping hand
F C C C Am Am F F C
But you got to try and help yourself before I can (hold)