Song for a Deck Hand's Daughter  - James McMurtry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Standard tuning, no capo.

INTRO:
CC Piano Chord 

, . , . , . , .   , . , . , . , .
||------------------|------------------||
||----------------1-|---------------1--||
||*-------0---------|-----0-----------*||
||*-----2-------2---|-----2-------2---*||
||--3---------------|-3----------------||
||----------3-------|---------3--------||
*use variants on this strum pattern throughout

VERSE 1:
CC Piano Chord 
                            DmDm Piano Chord 

He'd always whistle "Jolie Blonde"
Fmaj7Fmaj7 Piano Chord 
                          CC Piano Chord 

On his way out the back door on a Friday night
CC Piano Chord 
                              DmDm Piano Chord 

So many times he just stayed gone
Fmaj7Fmaj7 Piano Chord 
                           CC Piano Chord 
           C/BC/B Piano Chord 

And rarely did he try to treat your Mama right
AmAm Piano Chord 
                              EmEm Piano Chord 

Shut off the tractor with the field half mowed
F/CF/C Piano Chord 
                        CC Piano Chord 

Set the brake and headed down the road
AmAm Piano Chord 
                               EmEm Piano Chord 

Came home for Christmas, never said where he'd been
F/CF/C Piano Chord 

With no presents for the children
AmAm Piano Chord 

Only stories for the men

CHORUS 1:
Am                           G(see riff at end)
Still your Mama called him Daddy
CC Piano Chord 
    C/BC/B Piano Chord 

She never told him no
AmAm Piano Chord 
                           GG Piano Chord 

Said she couldn't help but love him
F/CF/C Piano Chord 
                            AmAm Piano Chord 

You wondered how it could be so

VERSE 2:
He'd work two weeks out on a river barge
She worked in the factory, never missed a day
He'd spend his week off holding up the bar
Never took him long to drink a deck hand's pay
Wind off the river cut the lines on his face
And left him dreaming of some other place
Maybe Memphis town or Baton Rouge
When it's cold in Cape Girardeau
There's nothing much to do

CHORUS 2 (same as before)

SOLO:
AmAm Piano Chord 
   GG Piano Chord 
   F/CF/C Piano Chord 
   AmAm Piano Chord 

AmAm Piano Chord 
   GG Piano Chord 
   F/CF/C Piano Chord 
   AmAm Piano Chord 

AmAm Piano Chord 
   GG Piano Chord 
   F/CF/C Piano Chord 
   AmAm Piano Chord 


VERSE 3:
AmAm Piano Chord 
                           EmEm Piano Chord 

And if his suitcase wasn't standing in the hall
F/CF/C Piano Chord 
                      CC Piano Chord 

He might not be coming home at all
AmAm Piano Chord 
                         EmEm Piano Chord 

All the sides of him you never knew before
F/CF/C Piano Chord 

Would be drifting down the river
AmAm Piano Chord 

To another back door

CHORUS 3: (chords as before)
Still your Mama called him Daddy
She couldn't tell him no
Said she couldn't help but love a man like that
You wondered how it could be so

OUTRO:
AmAm Piano Chord 
   C/BC/B Piano Chord 
   CC Piano Chord 



CHORUS RIFF:
GG Piano Chord 

, . , . , . , .   , . , . , . , .   , . , . , . , .   , . , . , . , .

||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
||-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---||
||-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---||
||-----0-------0---|-0h2-0---2p0-0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---||
||---------0h2-----|-----------------|-0h2-------------|-0-------2-------||
||-3---------------|-----------------|---------3-------|-----------------||


CHORDS: (bracketed notes indicate alternating bass notes)
CC Piano Chord 
      (3)32010
Dm     x(0)0231
Fmaj7  x(3)3210
C/B    x22010
AmAm Piano Chord 
     (0)02210
EmEm Piano Chord 
     0(2)2000
F/C    x3(3)21x
GG Piano Chord 
      320003