E
Look out, Mama,
          A
there's a white boat
              E    A\E
comin' up the river
       A
With a big red beacon,
 
and a flag,
                 E   A\E
and a man on the rail
              A
I think you'd better call John,
          C#m
'Cause it don't
 
look like they're here
     E          A
to deliver, the mail
         G#m               A
And it's less than a mile away
  G#m                      A
I hope they didn't come to stay
         G#m
It's got numbers on the side
      C#m
and a gun
                    B
And it's makin' big waves.
 
E  A/E
 
E
Daddy's gone,
                 A
my brother's out hunting
       E        A\E
in the mountains
    A
Big John's been drinking
                          E   A\E
since the river took Emmy-Lou
       A
So the powers that be
     C#m
left me here
          E
to do the thinkin'
      G#m                A
And I just turned twenty-two
      G#m               A
I was wonderin' what to do
        G#m
And the closer they got,
    C#m                 B
The more those feelings grew.
 
E  A\E
 
E                   A
Daddy's rifle in my hand
         E     A\E
felt reassurin'
 
He said,
A
Red means run, son,
                  E      A\E
numbers add up to nothin'
             A
But when the first shot
        C#m            E
hit the docks I saw it comin'
          G#m         A
Raised my rifle to my eye
      G#m               A
Never stopped to wonder why.
     G#m
Then I saw black,
       C#m                  B
And my face splashed in the sky.
 
E  A\E
 
E                   A
Shelter me from the powder
        E     A\E
and the finger
A
Cover me with the thought
                E      A\E
that pulled the trigger
A
Think of me
   C#m             E
as one you'd never figured
      G#m          A
Would fade away so young
     G#m            A
With so much left undone
  G#m             C#m
Remember me to my love,
            B
I know I'll miss her. 
 
E  A\E
 
* Alternate:
 
Capo II