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North Country Blues by Joan Baez
North Country Blues
Tuning:E A D G B E
Key:G#m
Capo:4th fret
[Intro]
Em D Em
[Verse 1]
Em
Come gather 'round friends
D
And I'll tell you a tale
Em D Em
Of when the red iron ore pits ran plenty
G
But the cardboard filled windows
D
And old men on the benches
Em D Em
Tell you now that the whole town is empty
[Verse 2]
Em
In the north end of town
D
My own children are grown
Em D Em
But I was raised up on the other
G
In the wee hours of youth
D
My mother took sick
Em D Em
And I was brought up by my brother
[Verse 3]
Em
The iron ore poured
D
As the years passed the door
Em D Em
The drag lines an' the shovels they was a-humming
G
'Til one day my brother
D
Failed to come home
Em D Em
The same as my father before him
[Verse 4]
Em
Well a long winter's wait
D
From the window I watched
Em D Em
My friends they couldn't have been kinder
G
And my schooling was cut
D
As I quit in the spring
Em D Em
To marry John Thomas, a miner
[Verse 5]
Em
Oh the years passed again
D
And the givin' was good
Em D Em
With the lunch buckets filled every season
G
What with three babies born
D
The work was cut down
Em D Em
To a half a day's shift with no reason
[Verse 6]
Em
Then the shaft was soon shut
D
And my work it was cut
Em D Em
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
G
'Til a man come to speak
D
And he said in one week
Em D Em
That number eleven was closin'
[Verse 7]
Em
They complained in the East
D
They are paying too high
Em D Em
They say that your ore ain't worth digging
G
That it's much cheaper down
D
In the South American towns
Em D Em
Where the miners work almost for nothing
[Verse 8]
Em
So the mining gates locked
D
And the red iron rotted
Em D Em
And the room smelled heavy from drinking
G
Where the sad, silent song
D
Made the hour twice as long
Em D Em
As I waited for the sun to go sinking
[Verse 9]
Em
I lived by the window
D
As he talked to himself
Em D Em
This silence of tongues it was building
G
Then one morning's wake
D
The bed it was bare
Em D Em
And I's left alone with three children
[Verse 10]
Em
The summer is gone
D
The ground's turning cold
Em D Em
The stores one by one they're a-foldin'
G
My children will go
D
As soon as they grow
Em D Em
Oh, there ain't nothing here now to hold them
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