Tom Russell - What work is

Yeah, I used to work with a guy named Frankie A^Amcosta ^C We were butter strippers down at the Challenge ^AmCreamery ^C Striping the cardboard off of seventy pound cubes of ^Ambutter Yeah, it was ^Chot back then summer of nineteen ^Amsixty-three

And Frankie, man, he'd get so ^Fangry He'd say,^C "See what the women make me ^Gdo" ^Am Then he'd break of a splinter from a ^Fdirty wooden pallet And stick it like a ^Cknife in one of those big old butter ^Gcubes

That's what ^Amwork is That's what ^Flove is A little ^Ampleasure and a little mise^Gry ^F Now every ^Gtime it gets ^Amhard out here I think of ^CL.A. back in nineteen six^Gty-three Hey, ^Amhey ^C

Then I got a job working for the city of Engle^Amwood Running chip^Cper, chipping limbs off of trees ^{Am C} I worked with a guy named Crazy Dave Mackla^Amnd ^C And one day he almost ran a tractor over me ^Am

We were out chopping weeds near South ^FCentral ^C When the riots broke out and the skies turned a fiery ^Gred and brown ^Am And I called up my girlfriend on a payphone and said "^FBaby, I love you But, ah, I ^Cthink god's gonna finally burn Gomorra down ^G

That's what ^Amwork is That's what ^Flove is You build a ^Amhouse of straw and the flames lick the ^Gsky ^F Now every ^Gtime I fall in ^Amlove out here I think of ^CL.A. back in nineteen sixty-^Gseven

I finally got a job driving a ^Amrose truck ^C Santa Barbara, midnight, to L.A., ^AmFifth and Main ^C All jacked up on coffee, cheap speed and ^Amdoughnuts Walking around the ^CL.A. Flower Market in the rain ^Am

And every morning I'd eat breakfast at The Pantry ^Fdown on Figueroa ^C The waiters were always old time, ex-^Gcons ^Am Then we'd load the truck back up with empty rose ^Fboxes And drive on up the ^Ccoast through the California dawn ^G

That's what ^Amwork is That's what ^Flove is Two eggs over ^Ameasy on a T-bone ^Gsteak ^F Every ^Gtime I see the ^Amsunrise on the ocean I think of ^CL.A. back in nineteen sixty-^Geight

That's what ^Amwork is That's what ^Flove is A little ^Ampleasure and a little mise^Gry ^F Now every ^Gtime it gets ^Amhard out here I think of ^CL.A. back in nineteen sixty-^Gthree ^Am