Em - Em - Em - Em
[Verse]
Em C Em
Up in Massachusetts there's a little spit of land
G F#m7 B7
The men who make the maps, yes they call the place Cape Anne
Em C Em
The men who do the fishing call it Gloucester Harbor Sound
C B7 Em
But the women left behind, they call the place Dogtown
Em C Em
The men go out for whaling past the breakers and the fogs
G F#m7 B7
The women stay home waiting, they're protected by the dogs
Em C Em
A tough old whaler woman who had seen three husbands drown
C B7 Em
Polled the population and she named the place Dogtown
[Chorus}
G Em
There's all these grey faced women in their black widow's gowns
F F#m7 B7
Living in this graveyard granite town
G Em
You soon learn there's many more than one way to drown
C7 B7 Em
That's while going to the dogs, here in Dogtown
{Verse 2}
And she speaks...
Em C Em
My father was a merchant all in the Boston Fife
G F#m7 B7sus4 B7
When my husband came and asked him for my hand
Em C Em
But little did I know then that a Gloucester Whaler's wife
C B7 Em
Marries but the sea salt and the sand
Em C7
He took me up to Dogtown the day I was a bride
G F#m7 B
We had ten days together before he left my side
Em C7 Em
He's the first mate on a whaling ship, the keeper of the log
C7 B7sus4 B7 Em
He said, "Farewell my darling, I'm gonna leave you with my dog."
{Chorus 2)
G Em
And I have seen the splintered timbers of a hundred shattered hulls
F F#m7 B7
Known the silence of the granite and the screeching of the gulls
G Em
I've heard that crazy Widow Cather walk the harbor as she raves
C7 B7 Em
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves
Em C Em
Sitting by the fireside, the embers slowly die
G F#m7 B
Is it a sign of weakness when a woman wants to cry
Em C Em
The dog is closely watching, the fire glints in his eye
C B7sus4 B7 Em
No use to go to sleep this early, no use to even try
Em
My blood beats like a woman's, I've got a woman's breasts and thighs
Em
But where am I to offer them, to the ocean or the skies?
Em
Living with this silent dog all the moments of my life
F#m7 B7 Em
He has been my only husband, am I a widow, or his wife?
Em
Yes it's a dog town
Em
And it's a fog town
Em
And there's nothing around
G F#m7 B7
'Cept the sea pounding granite ground
Em D Em
And this black, midnight horror of a hound
Em C Em
I'm standing on this craggy cliff, my eyes fixed on the sea
G F#m7 B7
Six months past when his ship was due, I'm a widow-to-be
Em C Em
For liking this half-living with the lonely and the fog
C B7 Em
You need the bastard of the mating of a woman and a dog
G Em
And I have seen the splintered timbers of a hundred shattered hulls
F F#m7 B7
Known the silence of the granite and the screeching of the gulls
G Em
I've heard that crazy Widow Cather walk the harbor as she raves
C7 B7 Em Em - Em - Em...
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves