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Mr. MacManus "fingerpicks" this song, though it can hardly be described this way since all the strings are picked at once. I pick the bass string on each beat and occasionally the off-beat to add some color, but the bass guitar does takes care of this in the recording and Elvis audibly only really hits the bass once before the first chord of the song. He uses four different diminished chords (as he is wont to do) in a couple different positions. All the chords are tabbed at the bottom of the page. The song also has a very jazzy rhythm which tends to stray from 4/4 from time to time because the song is so lyric-based. It also makes it nearly impossible to play without having the recording as A reference. One last note, even though the chord seems to want to change from F#m to Gdim at the end of the first few verses, it does not, and this keeps the song from becoming too predictable as it would be with a consistently rising bass line. Probably a result of T-Bone Burnett's masterful production. Or Elvis's songwriting for that matter. Not a bad pair. *Lyrics from SongMeanings.com C#m Verse 1:
C#mThird-class tiGdimcket in his pocket D#mPunching out the shadowAdims underneath the sockets C#mTweed coat turned up againG#st the fog C#m ... Ddim Slow coaches rolling o'er the moor F#mBetween the very memory and approaches of war G#
Prehorus 1:
C#mStale bread curling on a F#mluncheon counter C#mLoose change lonely, not the F#mright amount
Chorus1:
C#mForgotten man of an indiffereF#mnt nation C#mWaiting on a platform at a LancashireF#m station C#mSomebody's callGdiming you again D#mThe sky is fAdimalling ... C#m F#m Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m Verse 2:
C#mNobody waGdimnts to buy D#ma counterfeited prairie lullabyAdim C#m In aG# collierC#my town ... Ddim The hip flask and fumbled skein F#mOf some stage door Josephine is all he'll get now G#
Prechorus 2:
C#mEyes going inF#m and out of focus C#mMild and bitter fromF#m tuberculosis
Chorus 2:
C#mForgotten man, indifF#mferent nation C#mWaiting on a platform at a LancashirF#me station C#mSomebody's callGdiming you again D#mThe sky is fAdimalling ... C#m F#m Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m F#m C#m Bridge:
EHer soft breath was gentle on his neck ... C#m G# C#m If he could choose the time to die ... G# Then he would come and go like this C#mUnderneath a painF#mted sky C#m EShe woke up andG#7/D# called him "CharlC#mie" by mistake ... F#m C#m And then in shame began to cry ETarnished silver band peels off a phrase G#7/D#And then warms their hands around the brazier
Chorus 3:
C#mForgotten man, indifF#mferent nation C#mWaiting on a platform at a LancashirF#me station C#mSomebody's callGdiming you again D#mIt's finallyAdim dawning ... C#m F#m Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m F#m C#m F#m C#m Verse 4: (played sparsely)
C#mBrilliantine gGdimlistening D#mYour soft plaintive whisAdimtling C#mAnd your wan wandeG#ring smile C#m Died down at The Hippodrome Ddim F#mNow you're walking off to jeers, the lonely soundE of jingling sFdimpurs, The "toodle-ooF#ms" and "Oh, myB dears" down at The Argyle G#
Prechorus 3:
C#mVile vaudevillians applaud sobriety F#m C#mThere's no place for a half-cut cowboy in polite societyF#m
Chorus 4:
C#mForgotten man, indifF#mferent nation C#mWaiting on a platform at a LancashirF#me station C#mSomebody's callGdiming you again D#mIt's finallyAdim dawning ... C#m F#m Jimmie's standing in the rain C#mSomebody's callGdiming you again D#mIt's finallyAdim dawning ... C#m F#m Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m F#m C#m