The Downeaster Alexa

Am - Em - G - Am        2x


[Verse 1]

        C           G        Am
Well I'm on the Down- easter A- lexa
       C              G            F
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound.
       F         C             Dm
I have charted a course to the Vineyard,
       C         G       F       C - F
But to- night I am Nantucket bound.


[Chorus 1]

F         G             C             F
 We took on diesel back in Montauk yester- day,
F            G               Am               G/B
 And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay.
F          G                C             F
 Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home,
F           G                 Am            G/B
 Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone


[Verse 2]

          C          G         Am
So I could own my Down- easter A- lexa
      C          G       F
And I go where the ocean is deep.
         F        C            Dm
There are giants out there in the canyons,
     C           G            F      C - F
And a good captain can't fall a- sleep.


[Chorus 2]

F    G              C                 F
 I got bills to pay and children who need clothes.
F             G                 Am             G/B
 I know there's fish out there but where, God only knows.
F            G            C                 F
 They say these waters aren't what they used to be.
F          G              Am               G/B
 But I've got people back on land who count on me.


[Bridge]

           C           G        Am
So when you see my Down- easter A- lexa
          C            G          F
And if you work with the rod and the reel,
       F        C           Dm
Tell my wife I am trolling At- lantis,
     C            G           F
And I still have my hands on the wheel.


[Instrumental Bridge]

Am - Em - G - Am        2x
Em - G - D - Em
Am - Em - G - Am


[Verse 3]

     C            G         Am
Now I drive my Down- easter A- lexa
        C              G         F
More and more miles from shore ev'ry year,
          F        C            Dm
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers.
           C         G            F
And there's no luck in sword fishing here.


[Chorus 3]

F      G             C             F
 I was a bayman like my father was be- fore.
F           G           Am        G/B
 Can't make a living as a bayman any-  more.
F               G           C                F
 There ain't much future for a man who works the sea.
F                 G              Am            G/B
 But there ain't no island left for islanders like me.


[Interlude]

       C  G  Am
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo
       C  G  Am
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo
       C  G  Am
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo
       C  G  Am
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo