Key: E
Introduction: E A E E7 A A7 E E7 B B7 E A E B
E A E E7
Little black girl, in a red dress, on a hot night with a broken shoe
A A7
Little black girl, you should've never left home
E
There's probably someone still waitin' up for you
B B7
It's cold back in Chicago but the Los Angeles street is worse
E A E A B Bb B
All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
E
See that vulture in the Fleetwood with the chartreuse hood
A
Sees you're tryin' to get your bearings
E E7
Say hey baby which way's the main stem
A A7
Wherever you say you're from, he'll say he grew up there himself
E E7
He gonna come on and make you feel like you grew up right next door to him
B B7
Take a left on Central, he gonna throw it in reverse
E A E A B Bb B
All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
E
He gonna come on just like a gentleman
A
And oh baby you're gonna be a little shy
E E7
You say your ex-old man was a sax player, he says Baby I used to play bass with Sly
A A7
And you say you like his Cadillac, says honey I got two or three
E E7
Sweetheart you're sure fortunate that you ran into me
B B7
You've done a dime in the joint you figure nothin' could be worse
E A E A B
Than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
E
Got Pharoh on 8-track you start smokin' a little boo
E E7
Thinkin' gettin' out of Chicago was just about the best thing that's ever happened to you
A A7
You startin' to like it already this cat seems to be cool
E E7
I know a good old jailhouse in West-Hollywood, be just right for you
B B7
He ain't no good Samaritan he gonna make sure he's reimbursed
E A E A B
A lot more than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
E
And when the streets get hungry baby and you almost hear em growl
E E7
Someones savin a place for you when the dogs begin to howl
A A7
And the streets are dead they creep up and take whatever's left on the bone
E E7
And remember suckers always make mistakes, when they're far away from home
B B7
Chicken in the pot, whoever gets there first is gonna get themselves
E A E A B Bb B
Twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
E A
And the siren's just an epilogue, the cops here always get there too late
E E7
They always stop for coffee on their way to the scene of the crime
A A7
They always try so hard to look just like movie stars
E E7
But they couldn't catch a cold, baby don't waste your dime
B B7
She's lucky to be alive the doctor whispered to the nurse
A E A B
She only lost half a pint of blood twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
B B7 E A E A B
repeat instrumental to fade out
Love and peace