Dial Up Days
A ragtime tune about the early days of the internet.

Verse 1

C           /      A7        /      D-      /    G7
There was a time when going on line

F                /     A7         /         D-
Was something few people could do

E-              /                         A-7
You needed a computer and a telephone

D-7         /                 G7
A modem and an ISP too

C           /                A7        /             D-      /           G7
You paid for your hours and there wasn’t much power

F               /          A7      /       D-
And at home was where you had to stay

F       /           F#dim
‘Cause you could only make a call

C          /        A7
when you were plugged in a wall

D-       /       G7    /    C
Back in the dial-up days

Verse 2 (same chords as verse 1)

And not only that, to comment or chat
You had to find a Usenet feed
Special software was needed if you wanted to read it
And access was not guaranteed
There was always a lag ’cause servers would drag
So flame wars took so long to blaze
If you were an online jerk
You had to put in the work
Back in the dial-up days

Bridge

F                  /               F-
Oh, it was aggravating to disable call waiting

E7                      /                            A-
So you wouldn’t get kicked off line

E7                      /                A-
And heaven forbid you traveled out of town

D-                    /                      G7
Where a local access number was impossible to find

Verse 3 (same chords as verse 1 & 2)

Then they’d initiate a new software update
And the progress bar would make your eyes glaze
It took forever to download ‘em
With your 56k modem
Back in the dial-up days
Sometimes you couldn’t get through and video barely moved
Back in the dial-up days
You may giggle and scoff, at least we could turn it off
Back in the dial-up, where everything took a while, but
Those were the dial-up days.

©2013 Paravonian, all rights reserved

Lyrics & Chords