Duquesne Whistle

Written by 
Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter
Released on 
Tempest (2012)
Tabbed by 
Eyolf Østrem

Capo 3rd fret (sounding key Eb major)

This song sounds deceptively simple, but man are there lots of things going on here!

First there’s this two-chord thing going, throughout the whole song, that’s either brilliantly persistent or driving you crazy – probably depending on what mood you’re in:

    F     C
    :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
||------------------|-----------------||
||*-6-----5---------|----------------*||
||--5-----5---------|-----------------||
||--7-----5---------|-----------------||
||*-----------------|----------------*||
||------------------|-----------------||
    
  F     C                   G         C
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-6-----5---------|---------3-------|-----------------|
|-5-----5---------|---------4-------|-5---------------|
|-7-----5---------|---------5-------|-5---------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-7---------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

But then there’s the chord sequence that is played by the Django-ish acoustic guitar somewhere to the left:

    | C . . . | F . .     . | C . . . | F . Dm/f Fm |
    | C . . . | . . Csus4 . | C . . . | . . .    .  |

And finally the bass line, which adds more complexity to the gumbo (and for the sake of simplicity, I give all the tabs relative to a third-fret capo, even though that’s of course not what Tony Garnier is actually playing):

  C                 F                 C                 Dm7-5
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-------------0---|---------0---0---|---------1---1---|
|---------2---2---|-3---3---4-------|-----------------|-3---3-----------|
|-3---3-----------|-----------------|-3---3-----------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
    
  C6      Am        Dm      G7        C                 D7      G7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-2---2---2-------|---------0---0---|-----------------|-----------------|
|-------------2---|-0---0-----------|---------2---2---|-0---0-----------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-3---3-----------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---------3---3---|

Feel free to pick and choose your own level of complexity.

Chords 
Fm     xx3111
Dm7-5  xx0111
C9     x32333  or x3233x
C              F                C        F   Dm7-5
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
C       Am              Dm       G7     C     D7   G7
Blowing like it's gonna sweep my world away
          C             F                C     F    Dm7-5
I'm gonna stop in Carbondale and keep on going
     C        Am          Dm      G7        C
That Duquesne train gonna ride me night and day
    C9                     F
    You say I'm a gambler, you say I'm a pimp
    D7                   G7
     But I ain't neither one
C              F                C        F   Dm7-5
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
C      Am        Dm   G7    C
Sounds like it's on a final run.
                
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she never blowed before
Blue light blinking, red light glowing
Blowing like she's at my chamber door
    You're smiling through the fence at me
    Just like you've always smiled before
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she ain't gonna blow no more.
                
Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like the sky's gonna blow apart
You're the only thing alive that keeps me going
You're like a time-bomb in my heart
    I can hear a sweet voice gently calling
    Must be the Mother of Our Lord
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like my woman's on board.
                
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like it's gonna blow my blues away
You old rascal, I know exactly where you're going
I'll lead you there myself at the break of day
    I wake up every morning with that woman in my bed
    Everybody telling me she's gone to my head
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like it's gonna kill me dead.
                
C    G    F   Am
F    C/e  G
                
Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing through another no-good town
The lights of my native land are glowing
I wonder if they'll know me next time round
    I wonder if that old oak tree's still standing
    That old oak tree, the one we used to climb
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she's blowing right on time.

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