Key: G major
Verse 1
F
Come to the door, Ma,
Bb
F
and unlock the chain
I was just passin' through and
Bb
got caught in the rain
There's nothin' I want, nothin'
F
that you need say
Just let me lie down for a while
C
F
and I'll be on my way
Bb
I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern
Verse 2
F
Queen
With the police on my back
Bb
I fled to New Orleans
I fought in the dockyards and with the money I
F
made
I knew the fight was my home
and blood was my trade
Bb
Baton Rouge, Ponchatoula, and Lafayette
Verse 3
F
town
Well they paid me their money,
Bb
Ma, I knocked the men down
I did what I did well it come
F
easily
Restraint and mercy,
C
F
Bb
Ma, were always strangers to me
F
Bb
Verse 4
F
I fought champion Jack Thompson in a
Bb
F
field full of mud
Rain poured through the tent to the canvas
Bb
and mixed with our blood
In the twelfth I slipped my tongue
F
over my broken jaw
I stood over him and pounded his bloody
Bb
body into the floor
Well the bell rang and rang and
F
still I kept on
'Till I felt my glove leather slip
'tween his skin and bone
Bb
Then the women and the money came fast and the days I lost
Verse 5
F
track
The women red, the money green,
Bb
but the numbers were black
I fought for the men in their silk suits
F
to lay down their bets
I took my good share, Ma, I have
no regrets
Verse 6
F
Then I took the fix at the state armory with big John
McDowell
From high in the rafters
Bb
I watched myself fall
As they raised his arm my stomach
F
twisted and the sky it went black
I stuffed my bag with their good money
C
F
and I never looked back
Bb
Understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the
Verse 7
F
game
If you know me one different then
speak out his name
Bb
Ma, if my voice now
you don't recognize
F
Then just open the door and look
C
F
into your dark eyes
Bb
I ask of you nothin', not
a kiss not a smile,
F
Just open the door and let me
C
lie down for a while
F
Now
Verse 8
the gray rain's fallin' and my
Bb
F
ring fightin's done
So in the work fields and alleys I take all
Bb
who'll come
If you're a better man than me then
F
just step to the line
Show me your money and speak out
Bb
your crime
Now there's nothin' I want, Ma, nothin'
F
that you need say
Just let me lie down for a while and
C
F
I'll be on my way
Verse 9
F
Tonight in the shipyard a man draws a circle
in the dirt
I move to the center and I take off
Bb
my shirt
I study him for the cuts, the scars,
the pain,
F
Man, nor time can erase
I move hard to the left and
Bb
F
Bb
I strike to the face
F
Bb
F
How did you like the song?
TunerE A D G B E
ChordsF Bb C
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