Slip Jigs and Reels --- Steve Tilston
He was [A]barely
a [E]man in his [A]grandfather’s
[D]coat,
Sewn [A]into
the [D]lining a [E]ten-shilling
[A]note.
Good-[A]bye
to the [E]family, fare-[A]well
to the [D]shore,
‘Til [A]I
taste good [D]fortune you’ll [E]see
me no [A]more.
Now the [A]boat
on the [E]ocean, it [A]tossed
like a [D]cork,
[A]Then
one fine [D]morning they [E]sighted
New [A]York..
And he [A]stood
on the [E]gangplank and [A]breathed
in the [D]air,
“Hel-[A]lo
land of [D]plenty, I’ve [E]come
for my [A]share.”
[chorus] And he [A]did
like the [E]ladies, the [A]rise
and the [D]fall,
Of their [A]ankles
and [E]dresses down [A]on
the dance [E]floor,
And the [A]roll
of the [E]dice and the [A]spin
of the [D]wheel.
But he [A]took
most delight in the [E]slip jigs and [A]reels.
There’s [A]talk
of a [E]pistol and [A]some
say a [D]knife,
But [A]all
are a-[D]greed there was [E]somebody’s
[A]wife.
Some [A]kind
of com-[E]motion, a [A]terrible
[D]fight,
He [A]left
a man [D]dead and ran [E]into
the [A]night.
On a [A]train
to Saint [E]Louis, just [A]one
jump a-[D]head,
He [A]slept
one eye [D]open, a [E]six-gun
in [A]bed.
He [A]dreampt
of the [E]mountains and [A]green
fields of [D]home,
While [A]crossing
the [D]plains where the [E]buffalo
[A]roam.
[chorus]
A [A]bad
repu-[E]tation’s a [A]hard
thing to [D]bear,
[A]Mothers
pour [D]scorn and [E]children
they [A]stare.
So he [A]found
conso-[E]lation in [A]flash
compa-[D]ny,
Your [A]life
ain’t so [D]bad with a [E]girl
on your [A]knee.
Oh, they [A]called
him The [E]Kid, and [A]by
twenty-[D]one,
[A]All
that he [D]knew was the [E]power
of the [A]gun.
And [A]by
twenty-[E]three he’d [A]shot
five men [D]down,
Who [A]got
in his [D]way as he [E]rambled
a-[A] round.
[chorus]
There’s [A]bones
in the [E]desert, and [A]buzzards
that [D]fly,
In the [A]highest
of [D]circles, just [E]wishing
he’d [A]die.
But in [A]matters
of [E]cruelty [A]it
must be [D]said,
A [A]landlord
will [D]pick your bones [E]before
you’re [A]dead.
It was [A]wild
Mesca-[E]leros, I [A]heard
people [D]say,
In the [A]deadliest
[D]ambush near [E]old
Santa [A]Fe.
And the [A]young
buck was [E]taken, [A]dressed
in a [D]coat,
And [A]inside
the [D]lining was a [E]ten-shilling
[A]note.
[chorus] And he [A]did
like the [E]ladies, the [A]rise
and the [D]fall,
Of their [A]ankles
and [E]dresses down [A]on
the dance [E]floor,
And the [A]roll
of the [E]dice and the [A]spin
of the [D]wheel.
But he [A]took
most delight in the [E]slip jigs and [A]reels.