Key: E
Introduction:
E
B
G
D
A
E
E
B
G
D
A
E
E
B
G
D
A
E
E A5 E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
E A5 E
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
A5 A/G# A/F#
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
E A5 E
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind
E A5 E
I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand
E A5 E
They say working's best 'cause poverty is hell on a man
A5 A/G# A/F#
Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan
E A5 E
And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned
*2
E A5 E
I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain
E A5 E
She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames
A5 A/G# A/F#
When the boiler blew some people started naming names
E A5 E
But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame
E A5 E
I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown
E A5 E
A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns
A5 A/G# A/F#
But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down
E A5 E
They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found
*2, repeat intro
E A5 E
Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst
E A5 E
I don't spend time listening to other people's words
A5 A/G# A/F#
Sometimes they're right most times the reverse
E A5 E
They say the best is for the best when the best is for the worse
E A5 E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
E A5 E
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
A5 A/G# A/F#
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
E A5 E
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind
E A5 E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
E A5 E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
A5 A/G# A/F#
E
B
G
D
A
E
Run " *" follows the descending bassline of the 3rd line of each stanza
(it's also part of the intro picking)
E
B
G
D
A
E
Run *2 is an interlude between the 1st and 2nd and between the 3rd and
4th stanzas.
E
B
Gback
DE...
A
E