Album version
Recorded in Minneapolis Dec 27 1974
Bm Am Our conversation was short and sweet Bm Am It nearly swept me off-a my feet. G C And I'm back in the rain, oh G C And you are on dry land, Am You made it there somehow Bm Am D7/f# G . . . D/f# . . . You're a big girl now.
Original New York version
Recorded in New York Sept 17th 1974, released on Biograph
Open E/D tuning
Emaj7 . . B11 | E(iv) . . . | Emaj7 B11 Our conversation was short and sweet Emaj7 B11 It nearly swept me off-a my feet. E(iv) B(ii) A And I'm back in the rain, mm - mm E(iv) B(ii) A And you are on dry land, mm - mm F#m7 *) You made it there somehow Emaj7 B11 E(iv) . . A | E B(vii) . . | You're a big girl now. Bird on the horizon, sittin' on a fence, He's singin' his song for me at his own expense And I'm just like that bird, oh, oh, Singin' just for you, mm-mm. I hope that you can hear, Hear me singin' through these tears. Love is so simple, to quote a phrase, You've known it all the time, I'm learnin' it these days . Oh, I know where I can find You, oh, oh, In somebody's room. m-mm It's a price I have to pay You're a big girl all the way. Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast Oh, but what a shame that all we've shared can't last. I can change, I swear, mm-mm See what you can do, mm-mm. I can make it through, You can make it too. A change in the weather can be extreme But it ain't like changing horses in midstream I'm going out of my mind, mm-mm With a pain that stops and starts, mm-aa Like a corkscrew to my heart Ever since we've been apart.
*) or (to get the bass more clearly) 222100 (or 220100 or 222120)
Rolling Thunder Revue live version (1976)
Tabbed from Fort Worth, TX May 16, 1976; the Hard Rain version from Fort Collins a week later is virtually identical.
Two guitars are prominent: Dylan’s and Steven Soles’ (according to Trev Gibb, who got this information from David Mansfield)
1st guitar: Capo 4th fret (sounding key: E major); 2nd guitar no capo
Chords (some of these suggestions incorporate the tones in the bass and other instruments as well):
Cmaj7 There are many alternatives for this one: x35500 gives the b-c clash that is clearly audible, at least in the intro; xx5453 is an option, together with G11=3231, if the bass plays the bottom c; 032000 gives the "Em" feeling, and 332000 or x32000 is a more straightforward Cmaj7 xxx987 This is the high ringing guitar in the intro and the first lines of the verses G11 3x0211. Mute the 5th string with the ring finger - it's not that tricky. Can also be played as a Dm or a Dm7 (xx0211, xx0231, xx3231 [with Cmaj7=xx5453]) xxx765 (goes with xxx987)
The second guitar (probably Dylan) plays these chords without a capo (and correspondingly the other chords a major third higher than noted in the tab: E, B, A, and F#m):
Emaj7 xx9890 (for Cmaj7) A6 xx7670 (for G11)
[one verse intro] Cmaj7 G11 Our conversation was short and sweet Cmaj7 G11 It nearly knocked me right off-a my feet. C C G F And I'm back in the rain, oh C C G F And you are on dry land, Dm G You made it there somehow C F F *) You're a big girl now.
*) C F F C G . . . : (freely) : . . . : . . . : |----3----(1)-(1)--------------------|-0----------(0)--|----------------|-3--------------- |-/5---5---1---1-----------1----1----|-1----------(1)--|----------------|-0--------------- |-/5-------2---2-----------0----2----|-0----------(0)--|----------------|-0--------------- |--------------3-----------3----3----|-2----------(2)--|----------------|-0--------------- |------------------------------------|-3----------(3)--|----------------|-2--------------- |------------------------------------|-----------------|---------0--1-2-|-3--------------- You're a now big girl