Bb              Eb7       Bb
Come the dazzling sunlit rays
            F7            Fo           F7
Through the back alleys, through the blinds,
           Bb            Ebm  Bb
Another one of them endless days

[Verse 2]

F7        Fo   F7
Honey bees are buzzing
Bb      Eb7       Bb
Leaves begin to stir
F7            Fo           F7
I'm in love with my second cousin
           Bb              Ebm             Bb   A7
I tell myself I could be happy forever with her.

[Bridge 1]

Dm                 A7
I keep listening for footsteps,
Dm                        Bb   A7
But I ain't ever hearing any
Dm                         A7
From the boat, I fish for bullheads
Dm            C/E             F   Fo
I catch a lot, sometimes too many

[Verse 3]

F7            Fo   F7
A summer breeze is blowin',
Bb        Eb7       Bb
A squall is setting in.
F7            Fo           F7
Sometimes it's just plain stupid
Bb              Ebm       Bb
To get into any kind of wind.

[Interlude 1]
F7      F#o      F#7     F7

[Verse 4]
F7                           Fo                F7
Well, the old men 'round here sometimes they get on
Bb              Eb7       Bb
bad terms with the younger men,
F7                Fo           F7
Old, young - age don't carry weight
Bb              Ebm       Bb
It doesn't matter in the end

[Verse 5]
F7                         Fo                   F7
One of the bosses' hangers-on sometimes comes to call
Bb           Eb7       Bb
At times you least expect,
F7                        Fo                         F7
Tryin' to bully you, strong-arm you, inspire you with fear.
Bb           Ebm       Bb   A7
It has the opposite effect

[Bridge 2]
Dm                                       A7
There's a new grove of trees on the outskirts of town
Dm                  Bb   A7
The old one - long gone.
Dm                       A7
Timber, two foot six across,
Dm            C/E        F   Fo
Burns with the bark still on.

[Verse 6]
F7        Fo      F7
They say times are hard,
Bb                            Eb7       Bb
If you don't believe it you can follow your nose.
F7                Fo                 F7
It don't bother me, times are hard everywhere,
Bb                Ebm           Bb
We will just have to see how it goes.

[Interlude 2]
F7      F#o      F#7     F7

[Verse 7]
F7                Fo             F7
My old man he's like some feudal lord,
Bb          Eb7       Bb
Got more lives than a cat.
F7                       Fo                      F7
I've never seen him quarrel with my mother even once.
Bb              Ebm             Bb
Things come alive or they fall flat.

[Verse 8]
F7             Fo          F7
You can smell the pine wood burnin'
Bb                Eb7       Bb
You can hear the school-bell ring.
F7               Fo                 F7
Got to get up near the teacher, if you can
Bb              Ebm       Bb   A7
If you wanna learn anything.

[Bridge 3]
Dm                                       A7
Romeo, he said to Juliet, "You got a poor complexion
Dm                                              Bb   A7
It don't give you an appearance of a youthful touch."
Dm                                       A7
Juliet said back to Romeo, "Why don't you just shove off
Dm         C/E        F   Fo
If it bothers you so much."

[Verse 9]
F7                     Fo              F7
They all got out of here any way they could -
Bb              Eb7       Bb
Cold rain can give you the shivers.
F7                      Fo                     F7
They went down the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee,
Bb              Ebm          Bb
All the rest of them rebel rivers.

[Interlude 3]
F7      F#o      F#7     F7

[[Verse 10]
F7                              Fo                 F7
If you ever try to interfere with me, or cross my path again,
Bb                    Eb7       Bb
You do so at the peril of your own life.
F7               Fo                   F7
I'm not quite as cool or forgiving as I sound,
Bb                Ebm            Bb
I've seen enough heartache and strife.

[Verse 11]
F7           Fo            F7
My grandfather was a duck trapper
Bb                    Eb7            Bb
He could do it with just dragnets and ropes
F7                      Fo                      F7
My grandmother could sew new dresses out of old cloth,
Bb                 Ebm                  Bb   A7
I don't know if they had any dreams or hopes.

[Bridge 4]
Dm                        A7
I had 'em once though I suppose
Dm
To go along with all the ring dancing,
                            Bb            A7
Christmas Carols on all the Christmas Eves
Dm                        A7
I left all my dreams and hopes
Dm            C/E        F   Fo
Buried under tobacco leaves

[Verse 12]
F7               Fo             F7
Not always easy kicking someone out,
Bb                  Eb7                Bb
Got to wait awhile, it can be an unpleasant task.
F7                     Fo                  F7
Sometimes somebody wants you to give something up
Bb                   Ebm            Bb
And, tears or not, it's too much to ask.