Ruby and Carlos chords by James McMurtry
Intro 1
G
C
D
G
C
D
Verse 1
G
Ruby said you're
C
D
getting us in of world of hurt
G
C
Down below the mason dumb ass
D
line the food gets worse
C
D
I can't go back to Tennessee
G
C
That Nascar country's not for me
Em
Go on if you think you must
D
Verse 2
G
C
Carlos packed his drums
D
up in the dark of night
G
C
Ruby standing just outside
D
the front porch light
C
D
Chain smoking camel straights
G
C
The sky off to the east got grey
Em
D
And he rolled off in a cloud of dust
Verse 3
D
C
D
And the grey colt nickered at the gate,
she said,
G
C
\"You're right it's getting late
Em
You and me got work to do
D
We can't be burning daylight too
Verse 4
C
D
She took down the long lead rope
G
C
Em
D
And stayed off that slippery slope
G
C
D
Now aspen trees were turning gold up top
G
C
The talk was buzzing round
D
the beauty shop
Verse 5
C
D
Wasn't he barely half her age
G
Well that's just how they do
C
nowadays
Em
We should all have been so lucky
G
D
Verse 6
G
C
By spring she'd had the
D
run of the free born men
G
C
D
Ruby turned 50 in a sheep camp tent
C
D
Her body still could rock all night
G
But her heart was closed
C
and locked up tight
Verse 7
Em
Potato feids all muddy and brown
D
The gossip long such quieted down
C
D
After one more Coggins test
G
C
Pouring coffee for the county vet
Verse 8
Em
Pictures on the ice box door
D
Carlos in the first gulf war
C
Black eyed brown and youthful face
D
Smiling back from a Saudi base
Verse 9
D
C
D
Then Carlos on the big bay mare
G
C
Heavier now and longer haired
Em
Looking past the saddle shed
D
From way on bac inside his head
Verse 10
C
D
And the old vet said one day Rube
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C
that colt will break an egg in you
Em
Now and then one comes along
D
You just can't ride and he went on home
Verse 11
C
D
And the storm door didn't catch
G
It blew back hard as she
C
struck a match
Em
But she cupped it just in time
D
Then she sent that ashtray flying
Verse 12
C
D
G
And holding back the flood
Em
Just don't do no good
C
D
You can't unclench your teeth
G
D
Em
To howl the way you should
C
D
So you curl your lips around
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D
The taste of tears and the
Em
hollow sound
C
That no one owns but you
D
No one owns but you
Interlude 1
D
C
D
Em
D
C
D
Verse 13
G
C
Carlos took the road gig
D
And he saw it through
G
C
He rode the tour bus
D
While the singer flew
Verse 14
C
D
Managed out a music row,
G
C
Carlos never saw the studio
Em
The session guys had that all sewn up
D
Verse 15
G
C
He looks out the window
D
G
And it starts to sleet
C
D
Laying on a friends couch on Nevada street
C
D
Lately he's been staying high
G
C
Sick all winter and they don't know why
Em
They don't know why
or they just won't say
D
They don't talk much down at the V.A
Verse 16
C
And Ruby's in his thought
D
s some times
G
C
What thoughts can get out past the wine
Em
He feels her fingers on his brow
D
And right then he misses how
C
She looked in that grey morning light
Verse 17
D
She never shaved like they all do now
G
C
He sees it all behind his eyes
D
And his hands go searching
but they come up dry
Verse 18
C
D
Half way in that waking dream
G
C
Carlos lets the land line ring
Interlude 2
C
Em
D
Verse 19
C
D
He'd never guess it was Ruby calling
G
C
A pin in her hip from the grey colt falling
Em
Figure eights and a lazy lope
D
Stumbled on that slippery slope
Verse 20
C
D
G
Holding back the flood
Em
Just don't do no good
C
D
You can't unclench your teeth
G
Em
To howl the way you should
C
D
So you curl your lips around
G
The taste of tears and the
Em
hol low sound
C
That no one owns but you
D
No one owns but you
Outro 1
D
C
D
C
D
Ruby and Carlos
James McMurtry
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