Key of Eb, capo 1, play in D
D / G / Bm / A
D G Bm A
Lydie lit a cigarette today
D G Bm A
Ancient fumbling fingers in her way
G Bm A G
From a forty year old coffee cup she sipped a bit of gin
Bm A G
Closed her eyes and let the memories in.
D G Bm A
She lives in the old place all alone,
D G Bm A
Keeps in touch with neighbors by the phone
G Bm A G
Grows roses on the graves of her firstborn and his father
Bm A G
And the coal trucks never bother her
Chorus
D Bm A G
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Bm A G
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
D Bm A G
Oh Lydia your tears are heaven’s rain
Bm A G
But she never was the same
D G Bm A
A cotton dress and satin shoes
D G Bm A
Indian summer sun, dressed in amber hues
G Bm A G
Spending time with a coal miner’s son
Bm A G
To an old time fiddle tune
D G Bm A
The months went by just like a breeze that year,
D G Bm A
They wed in June, and by the fall the boy was here
G Bm A G
Word come down from Big Stone, there’s a fire in the mine
Bm A G
And eleven men they couldn’t find
Chorus
D Bm A G
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Bm A G
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
D Bm A G
Oh Lydia your tears are heaven’s rain
Bm A G
But she never was the same
Break
D G Bm A
She watched them pull him from the hole,
D G Bm A
The overalls he wore were blackened by the smoke,
G Bm A G
Lydie twice had had this dream and twice it had come true
Bm A G
And when she saw his father’s boots she knew.
Chorus
D Bm A G
Oh Lydie, let him go the boy is gone
Bm A G
Her mother struggled as she tore him from her arms
D Bm A G
Oh Lydia your tears are heaven’s rain
Bm A G
But she never was the same
D G Bm A
Lydie lit a cigarette today
D G Bm A
Ancient fumbling fingers in her way
G Bm A G
From a forty year old coffee cup she sipped a bit of gin
Bm A G
Closed her eyes and let the memories in.
