C   | 032010
Em  | 022000
F   | 133211
G   | 320033
Am  | 002210
Dm  | xx0231

C                       Em
Colorado passes by like writing on a wall
F                             C
Headed eastward down to New Orleans
C                         Em
Dippin' into Texas as the stars are fading out
        F                           G
There's still a lot of country in between

     Am                      F        C
When I left California I was 29 years old
        F     C    Dm   C  G
And the world just spun me around
      C                         F                C
Now I watched Louisiana scroll across the window pane
      Dm                         F
And I face in the direction I am bound

Dm C   G  C   F
Co-ver up the sun
Dm  C   G  C  F
Let the river run
Dm   C    G C   F
Make that water come 
         C
Wash me away


    C                                 Em
Me, Clifton, and the king of cats, we sat down in the road
F                                   C
Pedro said, "Boys, we're three of a kind,"
   C                               Em
He said "I sat with river rats and hung my hat with diplomats
F                             G
Had four brothers once upon a time"


    Am                               F                C
He said they toured the country far away from the Rio Grande
        F    C    Dm   C    G
And the road just wore them down
        C                                F             C
So they bought a house beside a lake, outside of New Orleans
      Dm                                 F         G
And they stared in the direction of the escalating sound


Dm C   G  C   F
Cover up the sun
Dm  C   G  C  F
Let the river run
Dm   C    G    C      F
Take this good man's son
              C
And wash him away


     C                         Em
Well Sister Indecipherable is talkin to a wall
F                              C
Back in New York city, she's a queen (New York she's a queen)
      C                           Em
Well, resurrect or genuflect, she saves the one she can't protect
F                                 G
Keeps the chapel Pris- if not Sis-tine


           Am                              F              C
She drinks Absinthe mixed with Kerosene to keep herself upright
        F     C     Dm     C   G
But the world still brings her down
             C                            F              C
If you can't keep your shit together when God is on your side
     Dm                                F
What chance do you have when he's not around?


Dm C   G  C   F
Cover up the sun
Dm   C    G C   F
Make that water run
Dm  C   G  C  F
Let the river come
            C
To wash me away


C                         Em
People of the Mardi Gras, in their Tuesday best
F                              C
Waiting for the South to rise again
C                    Em
Children of Geronimo grieving for the West
F                                     G
Feather-dressed and marching their refrain


   Am                                F                C
Oh in the dark of Armstrong Park the marching bands attend
         F  C  Dm   C G
But they never make a sound
       C                                F            C
Just a quiet prayer for Congo Square, a silent conversation there
         Dm                                Bb                           G
With the night to rest our eyes in we just look to the horizon for the change


Dm C  G  C   F
Cover up the sun
Dm  C   G  C  F
Let the river run
  Dm   C   G C    F                C
I pray the waters come to wash me away
Dm C   G  C   F
Colour in the sky
Dm   C    G  C   F
Make that diesel fly
         Dm  C  G    C  F                    C
Oh, just lay me down to die and just take me away.