Burma Shave chords by Tom Waits

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)



Verse 1:
  Dm7   C7      Dm7     C7
Licorice tattoo, turned a gun metal blue
Dm7   C7     Fm7      Eb G#  C7
Scrawled across the shoulders of a dying town
Dm7      C7         Dm7   C7
The one eyed jacks, across the railroad tracks
    Dm7 C7   Fm7  Eb    G#          C7
And the scar on its belly pulled a stranger passing through
       Dm7     C7      Dm7      C7
He was a juvenile delinquent, never learned how to behave
      Bbm7
But the cops would never think to look
  C7   Dm7
In Burma Shave

Verse 2:
     Bbm7      C7       Dm7       C7
And the road was like a ribbon, and the moon was like a bone
  Dm7  C7   Fm7     Eb    G#  C7
He didn't seem to be like any guy she'd ever known
     Dm7        C7        Dm7     C7
He kinda looked like Farley Grainger, with his hair slicked back
        Dm7  C7  Fm7  Eb  G#   C7
She says i'm a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat
Dm7       C7
How far are you going
    Dm7    Bbm7   C7
He said depends on what you mean
       Bbm7                 C7
He says i'm only stop in ' here to get some gasoline
  Dm7        C7       Dm7      C7
I guess i'm going thataway just as long as it's paved
   Bbm7
And I guess you'd say i'm on my way
  C7   Dm7
To burma shave


Verse 3:
       Bbm7            C7     Dm7      C7
And with her knees up on the glove compartment, she took out her barrettes
     Dm7     C    Fm7
And her hair spilled out like root beer
    G#         C7
And she popped her gum and arched her back
   Dm7        C7       Dm7       C7
Hell Marysville ain't nothing , but a wide spot in the road
        Bbm7                    C7
Some nights my heart pounds just like thunder i don't know why it don't explode
Dm7          C7           Dm7       C7
Cause everyone in this stinking town, has got one foot in the grave
     Bbm7
And i'd rather take my chances
   C7   Dm7
Out in burma shave


Verse 4:
Dm7       C7     Dm7          C7
Presley's what i go by, why don't you change the station
      Dm7 C  Fm7      G#    C7
Count the grain elevators in the rearview mirror
    Dm7     C7                Dm7         C7
Mister anywhere you point this thing, has got to beat the hell out of the sting
Dm7     C#     C7       Dm7        C7
Of going to bed with every dream that dies here every mornin,
   Bbm7    C7
And so drill me a hole
    Dm7
With a barber pole
   Bbm7     C7       Dm7    C7
I'm jumping my parole just like a fugitive tonight
       Bbm7      C7        Dm7        C7
Why don't you have another swig, and pass that car if you're so brave
      Bbm7
I wanna get there before the sun comes up in
C7    Dm7
Burma Shave


Verse 5:

    Dm7  C  Fm7  Eb   G#    C7
And the spider web crack and the mustang screamed
Dm7  C    Fm7 Eb   G#    C7
Smoke from the tires and the twisted machine
     Dm7        C7           Dm7    C7
Just a nickel's worth of dreams and every wishbone that they saved
   Bbm7
Lie swindled from them on the way to
C7    Dm7
Burma Shave


Verse 6:

    Bbm7     C7     Dm7       C7
And the sun hit the derrick and cast a bat wing shadow
Bbm7      C7        Dm7     C7
Up against the car door on the shotgun side
        Bbm7        C7
And when they pulled her from the wreck you know she
Dm7        C7
Still had on her shades
        Bbm7
They say that dreams are growing wild just this side of
C7    Dm7
Burma Shave