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Intro SOL RE LA RE
RE
I pulled into the regular pump
SOL RE
I was feelin' quite at ease
MI LA
I rolled down my window and told the man, "Fifty cents worth please"
SOL RE
Then out jumped my partner with his trusty pellet gun
RE RE LA RE
He said, "Boy, this is a holdup, keep 'a pumpin' and don't run"
Chorus
SOL LA RE
And now I wish I was somewhere other than here
SOL LA MI LA
Down in some honky tonk, sippin' on a beer
SOL LA RE
Yes I wish I was somewhere other than here
SOL RE
Cause that great fillin' station holdup
LA RE
Cost me two good years
We got fifteen dollars and a can of STP
A big ole jar of cashew nuts and a Japanese TV
Feelin' we had pulled the biggest heist of our career
We're wanted men, we'll strike again
But first let's have a beer
(Repeat chorus)
We were sittin' in the Krystal
About as drunk as we could be
In walked the deputy sheriff
And he's holdin' our TV
He roughed us and he cuffed us
And he took us off to jail
No picture on a poster
No reward and no bail
(Repeat chorus and fade)
Chorus
FA
She's a railroad lady
DO
Just a little bit shady
SOL7 DO
Spendin' her days on the train
FA
She's a semi-good looker
DO
But the fast rails they took her
SOL7 FA SOL DO
Now she's tryin', just tryin' to get home again
DO DO7 FA DO
South Station in Boston to the freightyards of Austin
SOL7
From the Florida sunshine to the New Orleans rain
DO DO7
Now that the railpacks
FA DO
Has taken the best tracks
SOL7 DO
She's tryin', just tryin' to get home again
Chorus
She's a railroad lady
Just a little bit shady
Spendin' her life on a train
Once a pullman car traveller
Now the brakeman won't have her
She's tryin', just tryin' to get home again
Once a high ballin' loner he thought he could own her
Bought her a fur and a big diamond ring
She hocked 'em for cold cash
Left town on the Wabash
Never thinkin', never thinkin' of home way back then
But the rails are now rusty
The dinin' car's dusty
Gold plated watches have taken their toll
Yeah the railroads are dyin'
And the lady she's cryin'
On a bus to Kentucky and home that's her goal
Chorus
She's a railroad lady
Just a little bit shady
Spendin' her life on a train
She's a semi-good looker
But the fast rails they took her
Now she's tryin', just tryin' to get home again
DO SOL7 FA SOL DO
Yes on a bus to Kentucky and home once again
LA
He went to Paris lookin' for answers
RE LA
To questions that bothered him so
He was impressive, young and aggressive
RE MI7
Savin' the world on his own
RE
But the warm summer breezes
LA
The French wines and cheeses
RE MI7
Put his ambition at bay
LA
The summers and winters
Scattered like splinters
RE MI7 LA
And four or five years slipped away
Then he went to England, played the piano
And married an actress named Kim
They had a fine life, she was a good wife
And bore him a young son named Jim
And all of the answers and all of the questions
Locked in his attic one day
'Cause he liked the quiet clean country livin'
And twenty more years slipped away
Well the war took his baby, the bombs killed his lady
And left him with only one eye
His body was battered, his whole world was shattered
And all he could do was just cry
While the tears were a' fallin' he was recallin'
Answers he never found
So he hopped on a freighter, skidded the ocean
And left England without a sound
Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilin's
And drinks his Green Label each day
Writing his memoirs, losin' his hearin'
But he don't care what most people say
Through eighty-six years of perpetual motion
If he likes you he'll smile and he'll say
"Jimmy, some of it's magic, some of it's tragic
But I had a good life all the way"
LA
And he went to Paris lookin' for answers
RE MI7 LA
To questions that bothered him so
Intro SI DO SI DO FA# SOL SI DO
SI DO SI DO
Grapefruit a bathin' suit
FA# SOL
Chew a little juicy fruit
DO
Wash away the night
SI DO SI DO
Drive-in you guzzle gin
FA# SOL
Commit a little mortal sin
DO
It's good for the soul
Chorus
REm7 SOL7 DOmaj7 DO6
And oh it gets so damn lonely
REm7 SOL7 DOmaj7
When you're on a plane alone
REm7 SOL7 DOmaj7 DO6
And if I had the money honey I'd strap you in beside me
RE7 SOL7
And never ever leave you leave you at home all alone and cryin'
Ten speed no need
My pickup gets me where I please
Chuggin' down the street
But I'll be leavin'
In a little while
So close your eyes and I'll
I'll be back real soon
Spoken: "Ah, take it Refers... Lady's choice, everybody dance..."
Repeat chorus
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Chord diagrams: F# - |xx4322| D7 -|xxo212| Dm7 - |xxo211------------|
G7 - |32ooo1| Cmaj7-|x32ooo| C6 - |xx2213------------|
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Intro: D G(alt) D(alt) A(alt) G(alt) D(alt2)
RE SOL RE
Well now Billy Voltaire was a piano player up from Miami way
He used to play in the bars, he could sound like the stars
MI7 LA7
The ladies would pay and pay
SOL RE DO SOL
But one night he did wind up playin' in Havana town
RE LA RE
Nobody knew, least Billy Voltaire that these were his final sounds
He met up with Merrita, a dancer in from the coast
Half woman, half child she drove him half wild
He loved that lady the most
But one night he did find her in the arms of shrimper Dan
So he pulled a knife, took poor Danny's life
Then he turned his own cold hand
Chorus
RE SOL
It's just a Cuban crime of passion
RE
Messy and old-fashioned
LA RE
Yeah, that's what the papers did say
SOL
It's just a Cuban crime of passion
RE
Anjejo and knives a-slashin'
LA LA-B-C
But that's what the people like to read about
LA-B-C RE
Up in America, up in America
(Repeat Intro chords)
Well now, they never found Merrita
Some people say she got ill
Billy Voltaire had no one to claim him
He was buried on Pauper's Hill
And no one talks about him no more, it happened just a week ago
But people get by and people get high,
In the tropics they come and they go
(Repeat chorus)
(Repeat Intro chords and fade)
Chord diagrams:
|xx0787| - G(alt)
|xx0-11-10-10--| - D(alt)
|xx09-10-9-----| - A(alt)
|xx0775| - D(alt2)
RE RE7 SOL RE
I really do, appreciate the fact you're sittin' here
Your voice sounds so wonderful
MI7 LA7
But your face don't look too clear
SOL RE
So barmaid bring a pitcher, another round a' brew
SOL LA RE RE7
Honey why don't we get drunk and screw?
Chorus
SOL LA RE
Why don't we get drunk and screw?
MI7 LA7
I just bought a waterbed filled up for me and you
SOL
They say you are a snuff queen
RE
Honey I don't think that's true
SOL LA RE
So, why don't we get drunk and screw
Spoken: "Pick it Coral Reefers, here we go..."
Solo (violin)
Chorus
Why don't we get drunk and screw?
I just bought a waterbed filled up for me and you
They say you are a snuff queen
Honey I don't think that's true
So, why don't we get drunk and screw?
Yeah, now baby I say, "Lord!,"
Why don't we get drunk and screw
DO SOL
Looking back at my hard luck days
FA DO
I really do have to laugh
DO SOL
Working in a dive for twenty six dollars
FA SOL
Spending it all on grass
FA DO
We were hungry hard luck heros
FA SOL
Trying just to stay alive
FA DO
We'd go down to the corner drug
RE SOL
This is how we'd survive
Chorus
DO
Who's going to steal the peanut butter?
FA DO
I'll get a can of sardines
DO
Running up and down the aisle of the mini mart
FA SOL
Sticking food in our jeans
FA DO
We never took more than we could eat
FA SOL
There was plenty left on the rack
FA DO
We all swore if we ever got rich
SOL DO
We would pay the mini mart back
FA DO FA DO
Yes sir! Yes sir!
SOL DO
We would pay the mini mart back
It was a two man operation
Had it all down on a note
Ricky would watch that big round mirror
And I'd fill up my coat
Then we'd head for the checkout aisle
With a lemon and a bottle of beer
Into to the car, got to make it on home
Supper time's gettin' near
(Repeat chorus)
I guess every good picker has had some hard times
I sure had my share
It's really kind of funny to laugh at it now
But I don't want to go back there
So every now and then when I'm in the grocery
I take a little but not much
You never know when those hard times will hit you
And I don't want to lose my touch
(Repeat chorus)
Intro: (see tab) C A F G C A F G
(Intro Tab:) ("Run" tab:)
e----------------- e -------------------------|
b----------------- b ----------2--3--2--------|
g----------------- g ----------2-----2--------|
d----------------- d ----------2-----2--------|
a-----0--3--0----- a -3-2-1-------------------|
E---3------------- E -------------------------|
DO LA FA SOL
Walkin' down new streets the music is loud
DO LA FA SOL
Neon signs bring in tumultuous crowds
F G "Run" A
But I'm just an old man, I'd probably get sore
FA SOL DO DO LA FA SOL
Cause they don't dance like Carmen no more
She and old Cougie, my what a pair
Just doin' the Rhumba as no one else dared
Slidin' and glidin' past Hollywood floors
But they don't dance like Carmen no more
She had a big hat, my it was high
Had bananas and mangos all piled to the sky
And how she could balance it, I wouldn't dare
Cause they don't dance like Carmen nowhere
But the lady's not with us, she died long ago
And they don't run her movies on late midnight shows
Cause the kids would get restless, and the grown-ups would snore
Cause they don't dance like Carmen no more
(Repeat second verse w/ "hardwood waxed floors")
No more, no more
And I'm just an old man, I'd probably get sore
But they don't dance like Carmen no more
10 cents a dance, might take a chance (fade)
LA RE
Days drift by, they don't have names
LA RE
None of the streets here look the same
SOL MIm LA RE
There's so many quiet places
MI7 LA7
Smilin' eyes match the smilin' faces
Chorus
SOL MIm LA RE SOL MIm LA SIm
And I have found me a home, I have found me a home
SOL RE MI7 LA7
You can have the rest of everything I own
SOL MIm LA RE
'Cause I have found me a home
My old red bike gets me around
To the bars and the beaches of my town
There aren't many reasons I would leave
'Cause I have found me some peace
SIm
And the ladies aren't demanding here,
RE
They'll never ask too much
SIm MI7
When you're comin' off a cold love, that's sure
LA7
A nice warm touch
(Repeat Chorus)
And the days drift by, they don't have names
And none of the streets here look the same
There aren't many reasons I would leave
'Cause I have found me some peace
(Repeat chorus)
DO SOL
When I pay my bills
FA DO
Gonna leave these Tennessee hills
LAm
Take my lady to the sea
DO SOL
That's where we both come from
FA DO
That's where we both belong
LAm SOL
Think I'll go back to the Keys
Chorus
FA DO
'Cause I don't want the fame that brings confusion
FA SOL LAm
Where people recognize you on a plane
FA DO
All I want's the quiet and the comforts
RE SOL DO
That livin' with my lovely lady brings
Somehow we survived the double talk and jive
Things are looking better all the time
I owe her all I can 'cause she made me understand
The simple way that we should live our lives
Chorus
And I don't want the fame that brings confusion
Where people recognize you on a plane
All I want's the quiet and the comforts
That livin' with my lovely lady brings
Let me tell you now she can eat her own weight up in crab meat
And there's plenty of that down there by the sea
Well we're sailin' in those warm December breezes
Sendin' picture postcards back to Tennessee
Chorus
Yes and I don't want the fame that brings confusion
Where people recognize you on a plane
All I want's the quiet and the comforts
That livin' with my lovely lady brings
Yeah that livin' with my lovely lady brings
Note:
** This song is played capoed on the 5th fret. The key is generally
** "D" in the verse, but with a bassnote run.
** It's fingerpicked, so play with it a little to get the right sound.
Intro RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA RE REsus4 RE
RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA
I once knew a poet who lived before his time
RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA
He and his dog Spooner listened while he'd rhyme
SIm FA#m SIm DO DO/SI LAm7 LA LAsus4 LA
Words to make you happy, words to make you cry
RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA RE REsus4 RE
Then one day the poet suddenly did die
RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA LAsus4
But he left behind a closet filled with verse and rhyme
RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA LAsus4
Through some strange transaction, one was printed in the Times
SIm FA#m SIm DO DO/SI LAm7 LA LAsus4 LA
And everybody's searchin' for the king of underground
BRIDGE:
RE RE/DO# RE/SI RE/LA SOL LA RE REsus4
Well they found him down in Florida with a tombstone for a crown
SOL RE/FA# LA SOL RE/FA# LA
Every-body knows the line from his book that cost $4.99
SOL RE/FA# LA SOL RE REsus4 RE
I wonder if he knows he's doin' quite this fine
'Cause his books are all bestsellers
And his poems were turned to song
Had his brother on the talk shows
Though they never got along
And now he's called immortal, yes he's even taught in school
They say he used his talents, a most proficient tool
But he left all of his royalties to Spooner his old hound
Growin' old on steak and bacon in a doghouse ten feet 'round
And everybody wonders did he really lose his mind?
No he was just a poet who lived before his time
He was just a poet who lived before his time
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