Dirt Gets Under The Fingernails Lyrics - Harry Chapin

Now he was a man who worked with his hands 

Only in a motor he found peace 

He could make an engine sing like a bird 

He could find his only kind of release 

When he was up to the elbows in the grease. 

She dreamed of a time for painting 

As she was cleaning up his stains from the rug 

She'd play all day with their children 

And try to meet him with a welcome and hug 

As he came shuffling through the house with a shrug 

I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails 

And hate gets under the skin 

But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone 

and the heart of a body that it's in. 

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While he was making magic with his piston machines 

She was cleaning up the mess he'd left behind. 

She was trying to make it through to the end of the day 

With a little empty time 

And do the painting that meant peace of mind. 

I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails 

And hate gets under the skin 

But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone 

and the heart of a body that it's in. 

Well one day she didn't bother 'bout making his bed. 

She hurried all the children out the door. 

And she let the bills and the marketing go. 

And she went and almost bought out an art supply store. 

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It just so happened that day he got to thinking. 

Of the grease that always covered up his skin. 

So he left the garage a little early 

He got a shave and a manicure and trim 

Came out clean as a plaster maniquin. 

He came home in a hurry 

But he almost didn't recognize the place. 

It looked like it'd been hit by a hurricane. 

There was canvas filling every open space. 

And she had paint all over her face. 

I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails 

And hate gets under the skin 

But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone 

and the heart of a body that it's in. 

They both stood stunned into silence 

Then their laughter exploded like a shout 

And he went out to make some magic in the kitchen 

The clean man learning what cooking was about. 

And the dirty girl painting her messy heart out. 

I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails 

And hate gets under the skin 

But a dream got a way of getting down to the bone 

and the heart of a body that it's in.