Song For A Deckhands Daughter tab by James Mcmurtry

Song for a Deck Hand's Daughter - James McMurtry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From "Too Long in the Wasteland".

Standard tuning, no capo.


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

VERSE 1:
C              Dm
 He'd always whistle "Jolie Blonde"
   Fmaj7             C
 On his way out the back door on a Friday night
C               Dm
 So many times he just stayed gone
   Fmaj7              C      C/B
 And rarely did he try to treat your Mama right
Am               Em
 Shut off the tractor with the field half mowed
F/C            C
 Set the brake and headed down the road
Am                Em
 Came home for Christmas, never said where he'd been
     F/C
 With no presents for the children
    Am
 Only stories for the men


CHORUS 1:
Am              G(see riff at end)
 Still your Mama called him Daddy
           C  C/B
 She never told him no
Am              G
 Said she couldn't help but love him
F/C              Am
 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:
Am  G  F/C  Am
Am  G  F/C  Am
Am  G  F/C  Am


VERSE 3:
Am              Em
 And if his suitcase wasn't standing in the hall
F/C           C
 He might not be coming home at all
Am             Em
 All the sides of him you never knew before
      F/C
 Would be drifting down the river
   Am
 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:
 Am  C/B  C

CHORUS RIFF:
  G
  , . , . , . , .  , . , . , . , .  , . , . , . , .  , . , . , . , .

||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
||-----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)
C   (3)32010
Dm   x(0)0231
Fmaj7 x(3)3210
C/B  x22010
Am   (0)02210
Em   0(2)2000
F/C  x3(3)21x
G   320003