45_modern/workingman.html

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   8 <title>Modern Times: Workingman&rsquo;s Blues #2</title>
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  13
  14 <h1 class="songtitle">Workingman&rsquo;s Blues #2</h1>
  15
  16
  17 <p>Words and music Bob Dylan<br />
  18 Released on <a href="index.htm" class="recordlink">Modern Times</a> (2006)<br />
  19 Tabbed by Eyolf &Oslash;strem</p>
  20
  21 <hr />
  22 <p>
  23 Did you ever expect to hear a line like &ldquo;The buying power of the proletariat's gone down&rdquo; in a song lyric? Way to go, Bobby!
  24 In a straight line from <a href="../03_times/ballad_of_hollis_brown.htm" class="songlink">Ballad of Hollis Brown</a>, through the <em>Farm Aid </em>initiative in the eighties, here&rsquo;s one of the highlights of the album &mdash; but more than a political statement, it is also a love-ballad.</p>
  25 <p>Musically, it is a close cousin of <a href="../00_misc/cross_the_green_mountain.htm" class="songlink">Cross the Green Mountain</a> with which it shares the ever-descending bass line and some of the chord shadings that never manage to decide whether they&rsquo;re major or minor (and <em>which</em> minor they are!).
  26 </p>
  27 <p>A stroke of genius is the G7 between the verses &mdash; the only place where this is actually a blues song. </p>
  28 <p>&ldquo;I say it, so it must be so.&rdquo; </p>
  29 <hr />
  30
  31 <p>
  32 Capo 2nd fret (sounding key A major)
  33 </p>
  34
  35 <p>
  36 Chords:</p>
  37 <p>
  38 The G/d in the second line (marked with *) below) can be played in many different ways, in addition to the plain xx0003. A well-sounding solution, which captures the f# (sounding: g#) in the strings, is to play it as 354000 or 054000, and to play the preceeding  Em as 075000. This gives a nice descent on the guitar neck down to the C in the next measure (-75--- -54--- -32---). </p>
  39 <pre class="chords">
  40 D/f#        200232 or xx4030
  41 Em          022000 or 075000
  42 Gmaj7       354000
  43 Em9         054000
  44 D9          xx0210
  45 G7          320031
  46 </pre>
  47 <hr />
  48 <pre class="tab">
  49   G                 D'/f#             Em                G/d
  50   :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
  51 |-----------------|(0)--------------|-----------------|-----------------|
  52 |---------3-------|-3---------3-----|-3-0---1-0-------|-----0-----0-----|
  53 |-----0-------0---|---------0-------|-----0-------2---|-0-----0---------|
  54 |-----------------|-----0h4-----4---|-2-------2-------|-0-------0-------|
  55 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------0-2-|
  56 |-3---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
  57 </pre>
  58
  59
  60 <pre class="tab">
  61   Cadd9             G/b               Am(7)             D
  62   :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
  63 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
  64 |---------3-------|-3-0-----0---0---|-1-----------0---|-----------------|
  65 |-----0-------0---|-----0---------2-|---------------0-|-2---------------|
  66 |-----------------|---------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
  67 |-3---------------|-----2-------2---|-0---------------|-----------------|
  68 |-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|-----------------|
  69 </pre>
  70
  71 <pre class="verse">
  72            G            D/f#
  73 There's an evening haze settling over town,
  74 Em                          G/d *)
  75 Starlight by the edge of the creek
  76     C                        G/b
  77 The buying power of the proletariat's gone down,
  78 Am                          D
  79 Money's getting shallow and weak
  80 </pre>
  81 <pre>Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
  82 it's a new path that we trod
  83 They say low wages are a reality
  84 If we want to compete abroad    </pre>
  85
  86 <pre>My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
  87 Come sit down on my knee
  88 You are dearer to me than myself
  89 As you yourself can see
  90 While I'm listening to the steel rails hum
  91 Got both eyes tight shut
  92 Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
  93 Creeping it's way into my gut </pre>
  94
  95 <pre class="refrain">
  96 C                            G6/b
  97 Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
  98 Am                    G
  99 Bring me my boots and shoes
 100         C                            G/b
 101 You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
 102 Am                         D9           G7
 103 Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
 104 </pre>
 105
 106 <pre class="tab">
 107   :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
 108 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
 109 |-----------------|-------------6---|-----------------|---------6--------|
 110 |---------7---7---|-7---7---7-5-----|-7-------7-------|-----7-5----------|
 111 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
 112 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
 113 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
 114                                                                      Well . . .
 115 </pre>
 116
 117
 118 <pre>Well, I'm sailin' on back, ready for the long haul
 119 Tossed by the winds and the seas
 120 I'll drag 'em all down to hell and I'll stand 'em at the wall
 121 I'll sell 'em to their enemies
 122 I'm a-tryin' to feed my soul with thought
 123 Gonna sleep off the rest of the day
 124 Sometimes no one wants what you got
 125 Sometimes you can't give it away </pre>
 126
 127 <pre>Now the place is ringed with countless foes
 128 Some of them may be deaf and dumb
 129 No man, no woman knows
 130 The hour that sorrow will come
 131 In the dark I hear the night birds call
 132 I can feel a lover's breath
 133 I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
 134 Sleep is like a temporary death </pre>
 135
 136
 137 <pre class="refrain">Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
 138 Bring me my boots and shoes
 139 You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
 140 Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
 141 </pre>
 142
 143 <pre class="tab">
 144   :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
 145 |-----------------|-----------------|---3-------------|-----------------|
 146 |-----3-----------|-6---5-----------|-------------6---|-----------------|
 147 |/4-------4---7-5-|---------7---5---|-4---------------|-----------------|
 148 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 149 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 150 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 151 </pre>
 152
 153 <pre>Well, they burned my barn, and they stole my horse
 154 I can't save a dime
 155 I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced
 156 Into a life of continual crime
 157 I can see for myself that the sun is sinking
 158 How I wish you were here to see
 159 Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking
 160 That you have forgotten me?</pre>
 161
 162 <pre>Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret
 163 They waste your nights and days
 164 Them I will forget
 165 But you I'll remember always
 166 Old memories of you to me have clung
 167 You've wounded me with your words
 168 Gonna have to straighten out your tongue
 169 It's all true, everything you've heard
 170 </pre>
 171
 172 <pre class="refrain">Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
 173 Bring me my boots and shoes
 174 You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
 175 Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues </pre>
 176
 177 <pre class="tab">
 178   :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
 179 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 180 |-----3---3---3\2-|-3---6-------4---|-3---------------|-----------------|
 181 |/4---4---4---4\3-|-4---7-------5---|-4---------------|-----------------|
 182 |/5---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 183 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 184 |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
 185 </pre>
 186
 187 <pre>
 188 In you, my friend, I find no blame
 189 Wanna look in my eyes, please do
 190 No one can ever claim
 191 That I took up arms against you.
 192 All across the peaceful sacred fields
 193 They will lay you low
 194 They'll break your horns and slash you with steel
 195 I say it, so it must be so
 196 </pre>
 197 <pre>
 198 Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue
 199 Gonna give you another chance
 200 I'm all alone I'm expecting you
 201 To lead me off in a cheerful dance
 202 I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife
 203 I can live on rice and beans
 204 Some people never worked a day in their life
 205 Don't know what work even means
 206 </pre>
 207 <pre class="refrain">Well, meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
 208 Bring me my boots and shoes
 209 You could hang back or fight your best on the front line
 210 Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues</pre>
 211
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