Charlie O'Neill

Chords with Lyric
AUDIO/LYRIC
You're a ruthless opponent-I should have known it
On my heart, Dear Hunter, you prey
Here on your chain, I'm a trophy, the one that never got away
Hooked on your sinker and line, I fall for it every time
God above-Poacher of Love

CHORUS
True love is on the brink
You may discover that it's nearly extinct
It disappears like the missing link, from the earth not a trace
Poacher of Love, remember my face

You're a ruthless opponent-I should have known it
With this game, dear hunter, you play
There's no running away, there's no cover, no chance to see another day
Hooked on your sinker and line, I fall for it every time
God above-Poacher of Love

You're a ruthless opponent, I whisper and moan it
And my heart, dear hunter, you slay
No more 'Home on the Range', It's all over,
Life begins to fade away
Song from the last of my kind, ends on this crazy rhyme
God above-Poacher of love

NOTES ON SONG WRITING

This dramatic little tune was written and recorded at the same time as 'The Slump' with the same personnel, except for John Hill, who sat this one out. Joe Head (the Thirds) joined us on the chorus vocal. He sang harmony with himself and 'answered' my vocal lines. At that time, I had a very real idea that polluters and poachers were amongst the lowest forms of human life on the planet. When I first started writing this I was feeling a little 'poached' myself. So I assigned that idea to a lost at love situation and ran with it. The 'victim' in this song is pleading with the ruthless hunter (lover) for mercy. If true love is destroyed, then it is gone forever.
It will not come back. It is extinct in the eye of the beholder. It's over. Done. Finished. It is
not going to comeback. Forget it. So just remember my face… right up there next to the
Dodo birds, Carrier pigeons and the Wooly Mammoth. True love and the last of its kind disappear forever. Dear God above. Please…have mercy!

'Poacher of Love' was partly written on a digital rhythm programmer after I had
located an unusual sounding chord progression (see lyric/chord chart) on my
guitar. The minor chords of the verse were intended to be dark, threatening
and unsettled. I wanted them to move like a thunderstorm on the open
plain. The jazzy chorus chords give promise of hope and protection
from the stalking cupid. But alas, it's not to be…the song ends in a
plea for mercy. I then let my imagination go a little crazy and
imagined my guitar solo at the end of the song to be dinosaurs.
Moaning and groaning prehistoric ghosts.

CHORDS WITH LYRIC

Verse          Em7           Em6    Cm7               Cm6                 Em7       Em6         C (add9)  CM9
You're a ruthless opponent, I should have known it. On my heart, Dear Hunter, you prey.
 
                      Bm7           E7#5 E9    A9                         A13
Here on your chain I'm a trophy, the one that never got away.
 
                           C7#11      B7#5                 Am9                    B7#5 B7
Hooked on your sinker and line, I fall for it every time every time, 
 
       CM7   B7#9              Em9 F#m7(11) GM9 A9
God above,    Poacher of Love.


Chorus;
CM7 C#m7b5  Bm7(11) Bb7#11    C(add9)      F#7sus4         Bm7(11) Bb7#11
True   love        is on the brink,       You may discover that its nearly extinct.

CM9     C#m7b5         Bm7     E7#9              Am9        Am7       
It disappears like the missing link, from the earth not a trace.

B7#9          CM7    B7#5                           Em7 Em6   Cm7 Cm6  
Poacher of Love,     remember my face.


Verse;        Em7        Em6        Cm7 Cm6                            Em7           Em6            C(add9) CM7
You're a ruthless opponent, I should have known it. With this game, dear hunter, you play.

                                 Bm7                  E7#5 E7   A9                              A13
There's no running away, there's no cover, no chance to see another day.
 
                          C7#11      B7#5                   Am9  B7#5 B7
Hooked on your sinker and line, I fall for it every time,

CM7             B7#9                       Em9 F#m7(11) GM9 A9 
God above,   Poacher of Love.                                               (Repeat chorus)

 Verse              Em7          Em6       Cm7            Cm6                 Em7           Em6    C (add9) CM9
You're a ruthless opponent. I whisper and moan it. And my heart, dear hunter, you slay.

                                   Bm7              E7#5 E9       A9                          A13
No more home on the range, it's all over.            Life begins to fade away.

                        C7#11     B7#5                      Am9   B7#5 B7 
Song from the last of my kind, ends on this crazy rhyme…
  
        CM7  B7#9                        Em9 F#m7(11) GM9 A9
God above,      Poacher of Love.                     ( repeat chorus, vamp to fade)