Trad.

A . Bm7 . C#m7 . Bm7 .

  A         Bm7   C#m7  Bm7      A  Bm7  C#m7  Bm7
I wish I was    a red   rosey bush
D      E7           A    Bm7  C#m7 Bm7
By the banks of the sea
     D     E7      A         Bm7
 And every time my true love passed
      C#m7   Bm7       A   Bm7  C#m7  Bm7
She'd take a rose from me

I wish I had a little white box *)
I put her in
and I'd take her out, and kiss her, then
I'd put her back again

I wish I was in some dark hollow
Where the sun don't ever shine

Em

           Em
She went upstairs to make her bed.
            C                  Em
And not one word to her mother said.

Her mother she went upstairs too,
                    C                          Em
Saying "Daughter oh daughter, what's troubling you?"

Oh mother oh mother I cannot tell.
It's that railroad boy that looks so well.
He's courted me my life away.
And now at home I long to stay.

There is a place in yonder town
where my love goes and he sits there down.
And he takes a strange girl on his knee,
And he tells to her what he won't tell me.

          G          G7
Well they found poor Lazarus
C              A
in between two mountains.
            G          D/f#
Blowed him down, great God,
                G      D/f#
they blowed him down.

Well they killed poor Lazarus
with a mighty number,
number .45.

Poor Lazarus, they took his body
to the commissary office.
Walked away,
great God, they walked away.

Poor Lazarus, Lazarus's father,
when he heard his son was a-dying,
he said: let that fool go down.
Let the fool go down.

And Lazarus, Lazarus's little sister,
she could not come to the funeral.

[instr. verse]

Em                     Am
 All ye brave huntsmen   who follow the gun
Em                           B7
 Beware of a-shooting at the setting of the sun
        Em                              Am
For her true love went a-huntin' and he   shot in the dark
    Em                B7             Em
But oh and alas Polly Vaughn was his mark.

            G                                             B7
She had her apron wrapped about her and he took her for a swan
Em                   B7         Em
Oh and alas - it was she, Polly Vaughn

    C       Fmaj7    C       Fmaj7
Ah, I don't know the word to find
  C        Fmaj7     C              Fmaj7
A word for [...],*) [mean life this time]
  C      Fmaj7        C            Fmaj7
I got to know, got to make me understand
C     Fmaj7 C Fmaj7 C
if to me my Mary    Ann

Fmaj7 .  G  G6  C  .  .  .
Fmaj7 .  G  G6  C  .

C        Fmaj7     C         Fmaj7
Oh, Mary Ann, Mary Ann, Mary Ann
C         Fmaj7 C   Fmaj7 C
I'm gonna marry you some  time

Fmaj7 .  G  G6  [C  .  .  .] (tape break)

*) Sounds almost like: I work all day

Introductory talk San Diego, Nov 26, 1980:

People always ask be about old songs and new songs. [crowd cheering]

This is a real old song. I used to sing this before I even wrote any songs. One of them old southern mountain ballads. I guess everybody used to do them.

Bb'

        C         Bb' F      C
Makes a long time man   feel bad
        C         Bb' F      C
Makes a long time man   feel bad
            C        E
When you're out all alone
   F                D/f#
No letter from your home
        C         F        C
Makes a long time man feel bad

G

I believe my dear old mother's gone
I believe my dear old mother's gone
I believe she's gone on to a better land
It makes a long time man feel bad

Go tell all my friends goodbye
You can tell all my friends so long
You can tell my friends so long,
I'll see you next time around

      C    Em           F  C      C         G       C
'Twas on a bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu.
  C        Em         F   C       C            F *)
I took the train from Jackson, my fortune to renew,
  C          Em      F         C              F *)
I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain,
      C       Em      F               C        G       C
Which sent my heart a-longing for the lakes of Pontchartrain.

C . . Em . . F . . C . . C . . G . . C . . |. . .

I hopped on board of a railway car, beneath the morning sun,

            G           C       G        C/g G
Down in Carlisle, there lived a lady
           C/g *)        G               C/g G      *) Not played in the
Being most beautiful and gay                           first verse
          G
She was determined to live a lady
          C           D     G            C/g G
No man on earth could she betray

Unless it were a man of honor
A man of honor, and high degree
And down the road came two loved soldiers
This fair lady for to see

The first one being a brave lieutenant
A brave lieutenant and a man of war