EXHAUSTING LOVER by BEN FOLDS
from the album WHAT MATTERS MOST (2023)

[VERSE 1]
        E
I woke up in a truck stop parking lot
                      Esus4
A girl in a red white and blue halter top was staring
              E
Thick glasses like mine
                                           Esus4
And a low bored monotone vocal fry (I like that)
          E
She said, who's the band on the bus? (What bus?)
                                     Esus4
That one, nerd. The one that you got off of
                                  E
Oh - probably no one you've heard of

[PRE-CHORUS 1]
C#m
   Don't know what came over me
G#m
   As I awkwardly dropped my room key
A
   I said I think that's yours
    G/A         A/B         Bb/C         C/D 
And three hours later I was banging this verse out

[CHORUS 1]
E                       A/E                 
Oh no - head meet floor
E
 I don't wanna do this no more
A/E                            D/E                      
 Every kiss is a jam band solo
A/E
 Never gonna say YOLO no mo'
D/E
 My mind says no
                  A/E
My body says hell no
             E
Let this be over
                 B  A  A/B  F#m7  E
Exhausting lover

[VERSE 2]
    E     
Not sure if she couldn't stop or if she wouldn't stop
                            Esus4
As the motel carpet gave me five more raw spots
Esus4
(What's that stabbing my back? Oh, that's a wire from her halter top)
             E
There was an hour where her head kept banging against the bottom of a table top
Esus4
     I saw my life in a split screen but life's just one shot

[PRE-CHORUS 2]
C#m
   What the hell would I tell my girlfriend
G#m                                   A                                         
   The thing is she's not my girlfriend anymore
  G/A       A/B          Bb/C         C/D 
I traded it all for some third degree carpet burn
N.C.
(Oh, look out)

[CHORUS 2]
E                       A/E  
Oh no - head meet floor
E
 I don't wanna do this no more
A/E                            D/E                
 Every kiss is a jam band solo
A/E
 Never gonna say YOLO no mo'
D/E
 My mind says no
                  A/E
My body says hell no
             E
Let this be over
                 B  A  A/B  F#m7
Exhausting lover

[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]
A/B   B/C#  G/A
G/A   A/B   Fmaj7/G
C/D   D/E  
D/E   E/F#  F#/G#  G#/A#

[VERSE 3]
E
 Then she handed me a Hot Wheels track
E
I said, girl that's pretty weird, where did you get that?
Esus4
She said never mind that
                                                                E
Here, nerd beat my ass in the bath like my dad did when I was a bad kid
E                            
I said, nah what's this? Let me up out of the Motel 6
    Esus4
And tell me where my pants went, that's when I heard the door breaking
Esus4
It wasn't housekeeping - it was her boyfriend

[PRE-CHORUS 3]
C#m
   Don't know what came over me
G#m
   Out the door in my boxer briefs
A
   Some dude live tweeted
     G/A      A/B          Bb/C           C/D 
As I ran half-naked past a Cracker Barrel

[CHORUS 3]
E                       A/E
Oh no - head meet floor
E
 I don't wanna do this no more
A/E                            D/E
 Every kiss is a jam band solo
A/E
 Never gonna say YOLO no mo'
D/E
 My mind says no
                  A/E
My body says hell no
             E
Let this be over
                 B  A  A/B  F#m7  E
Exhausting lover

[Outro]
E  A/E  E

A/E  D/E  A/E
             I don't wanna this no more
E  A/E  E
          Exhausting lover
A/E
   I don't wanna do this no more