Ballad Of Spider John

Am


[Verse 1]
Am                 C
Spider John is my name, friend
 D
I'm in between freights and I sure
          Am
would be obliged
          C              G
If you'd share your company
 Am                    C
I know this may sound strange to you
            D
But if you wait till the song is sung
                 Am
and the story is told
           C          G
You might come to understand
         Am                    C
Why I'm old and bent and devil-spent,
D                 G
runnin' out of time
       Am              C
When I long ago held a royal flush in
     D  D7
my hand


[Chorus]
            Em
Oh, I was a supermarket fool
A7
I was a roll-the-bank stool-pigeon,
Em          A7
robbin' my hometown
       Em
I thought I lost my blues
        A7
Yes, I thought I paid my dues
   F                  C               G
I thought I'd found a life to suit my style
                     G              F
But here I sit, ol’ Spider John the robber-man
C               Am
Long, tall, and handsome
         G                  F
Yes, ol’ Spider John with a loaded
      C      Am
hand, takin' ransom


[Verse 2]
 Am                C
Then one day I met Diamond Lill
D
She was the sweetest thing, I
         Am
declare, that the summer breeze had
C             G
ever blown my way
    Am                C
But Lilly she had no idea, of my
D               G
illustrious occupation
     Am
She thought I was a saint, not a
C             G
sinner, gone astray
                 Am
But you see that word got around and
C
Lilly left town
  D               G
I never saw her again
Am                      C
Tossin' and turnin', 'causin' my heart
      D   D7
to grieve


[Chorus]
            Em
Oh, I was a supermarket fool
A7
I was a roll-the-bank stool-pigeon,
Em          A7
robbin' my hometown.
       Em
I thought I lost my blues
        A7
Yes, I thought I paid my dues
   F                  C               G
I thought I'd found a life to suit my style
                     G              F
But here I sit, ol’ Spider John the robber-man
C               Am
Long, tall, and handsome
         G                  F
Yes, ol’ Spider John with a loaded
      C      Am
hand, takin' ransom


[Verse 3]
Am              C
That is all my story
D
It's been these thirty years since I
             Am
took to the road
            C              G
To find my precious jewel one
Am                C                D
And if you see my Lilly, won't you give
        G
her my regards
             Am
Tell her ol’ Spider got tangled in the
  C               G
black web that he spun
                     Am
You can tell her ol’ Spider got tangled
    C                 G
the black web that he spun