Oh, the ragman just stumbles and walks around the block
I'm stuck inside of Mobile with the Nashville blues again
Oh, the ragman is late, he around the block
I'd ask him what was wrong, but I know he doesn't talk
And neither him nor the rainman can help me to escape
But neither him nor the ragman can help me to escape
Oh, mama, I just need a friend...
Shakespeare, he's in the alley, with his tambourine and his bells
And he just smoked my eyeballs and punched my cigarette"
C
. . . Em
. Dm
G
F
. . . : . . .
|-----------------|-----------------|-------1---------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-------1---------|-----------------|
|-----------------|---------2---0---|-------------2---|---------0h2-----|
|-3p2---------2---|-0h2-----0---0---|-3-----------3---|---------3-------|
|-3---3-----------|-2---2-----------|-3-------3---3---|-----3-------3---|
|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----0-----------|-0---------------|
C
. . . Em
. Dm
G
F
. : . : . . .
|-------0---------|-------0---------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|---------3---0---|-1---------------|-----------1-----|
|-------------0---|---------2---0---|-2-----------0h2-|-----2-------0---|
|-3p2---------2---|-0h2-2-------0---|-3-----------3---|-----3-------3---|
|-3-----------3---|-0h2-------------|-----3-----------|-----------------|
|-----0---0-------|-----------------|---------0-------|-0-------0-------|
C
. . Csus4
: . . . C
. . . : . . Csus4
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---0-------------|
|-------1---------|-----1-----1-----|---------1-------|-----------------|
|-0-----------0---|-----0-----------|---------0-------|-------------0---|
|-3p2---------2h3-|-----3-------3---|-0h2-----2-------|-2---2-------2h3-|
|-3---------------|-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|
|-----0---0-------|-0-------0-------|-0---0-------0---|---------0-------|
: . . . C
. . . : . . .
|-----------------|-------0---------|-----------------|
|---1-------1-----|-------1---------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-------0---------|-----------------|
|-----3-------3---|-2-----2-----2---|-----2-----------|
|-----------------|-3---3-------3---|-----3-----------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
G
Standing on your window, honey
C
D
G
Yes, I've been here before
G
Feeling so harmless
C
D
G
I'm looking at your second door
D
G
How come you don't send me no regards?
G
D7
You know I want your lovin'
G
Honey, why are you so hard?
: . . . : . . .
|-3------7-----6-----5---|-3-----2---2-------------|
|-0----------------------|-3-----1---1-------------|
|-0----7---7-6---6-5---5-|-4-----2---2-------------|
|-0----------------------|-------0---0-------------|
|-2----------------------|-------------------------|
|-3----------------------|-------------------------|
Kneeling 'neath your ceiling
Yes, I guess I'll be here for a while
I'm tryin' to read your portrait, but
I'm helpless, like a rich man's child
How come you send someone out to have me barred?
You know I want your lovin'
Honey, why are you so hard?
Em
Like a poor fool in his prime
Bm
Yes, I know you can hear me walk
Em
But is your heart made out of stone, or is it lime
Bm
D7
D7sus4
Or is it just solid rock?
Well, I rush into your hallway
Lean against your velvet door
I watch upon your scorpion
Who crawls across your circus floor
Just what do you think you have to guard?
You know I want your lovin'
Honey, but you're so hard
Achilles is in your alleyway
He don't want me here, he does brag
He's pointing to the sky
And he's hungry, like a man in drag
How come you get someone like him to be your guard?
You know I want your lovin'
Honey, but you're so hard
C
. . F
. .
|-----3---5-3-|-----5---6-5-|
|---5---5-----|---6---6-----|
|-5-----------|-5-----------|
|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|
C
F
C
When she said, "Don't waste
F
C
Your words, they're just lies"
F
C
F
C
F
I cried she was deaf
C
F
C
And she worked on my face
F
C
Until breaking my eyes
F
C
F
C
F
Then said, "What else you got left?"
Em
It was then that I got up to leave
Dm
But she said, "Don't forget
C
F
C
Everybody must give something back
F
C
F
C
F
For something they get"
I stood there and hummed
I tapped on her drum
And asked her how come
And she buttoned her boot
And straightened her suit
Then she said, "Don't get cute"
So I forced my hands in my pockets
And felt with my thumbs
And gallantly handed her
My very last piece of gum
She threw me outside
I stood in the dirt
Where everyone walked
And after finding out I'd
Forgotten my shirt
I went back and knocked
I waited in the hallway, she went to get it
And I tried to make sense
Out of that picture of you in your wheelchair
That leaned up against
Her Jamaican rum
And when she did come
I asked her for some
She said, "No, dear"
I said, "Your words aren't clear
You'd better spit out your gum"
She screamed till her face got so red
Then she fell on the floor
And I covered her up and then
Thought I'd go look through her drawer
And when I was through
I filled up my shoe
And brought it to you
And you, you took me in
You loved me then
You didn't waste time
And I, I never took much
I never asked for your crutch
Now don't ask for mine
C
. G/b
. F/a
. G11
G
. C/e
: .
|-------0-----|-------3-----|-------1-----|--------------|-------0------
|-----1---1---|-----0-------|-----1-1---1-|---1---010----|-----1---1----
|---0-------0-|---0-----0---|---2-----1---|-2---2----0---|---0-------0-- etc
|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------3-|-2------------
|-3-----------|-2---------2-|-0-----------|--------------|--------------
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-3------------|--------------
C
G/b
F/a
G7
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times
C
G/b
F/a
G7
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes
F
C/e
Dm
G7
C
And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes
C
Dm
G7sus4
G7
G7sus2
G7
Oh, who do they think could bury you?
With your pockets well protected at last
And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass
And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass
Who could they get to carry you?
Dm
C
G
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands
Dm
C
G7
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes
C
G/b
F/a
C/g
F
C/e
G7
My warehouse eyes my Arabian drums
Dm
G7sus4
G7
G7sus2
G7
Should I put them by your gate
Dm
C
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?
With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace
And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace
And your basement clothes and your hollow face
Who among them can think he could outguess you?
With your silhouette when the sunlight dims
Into your eyes where the moonlight swims
And your match-book songs and your gypsy hymns
Who among them would try to impress you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands ...
The kings of Tyrus with their convict list
Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss
And you wouldn't know it would happen like this
But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug
And your Spanish manners and your mother's drugs
And your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs
Who among them do you think could resist you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands ...
Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide
To show you where the dead angels are that they used to hide
But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side?
Oh, how could they ever mistake you?
They wished you'd accepted the blame for the farm
But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm
And with the child of a hoodlum wrapped up in your arms
How could they ever, ever persuade you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands ...
With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row
And your magazine husband who one day just had to go
And your gentleness now, which you just can't help but show
Who among them do you think would employ you?
Now you stand with your thief, you're on his parole
With your holy medallion which your fingertips fold
And your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul
Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands ...