Boy from Oklahoma
by Willis Alan Ramsey (Wishbone Music)
Tabs by Casey Carr
D G
Travelin’ across the country
A D
playin’ on the circuit line
D Bm
sometimes I think about a man
E7 A
who was here before my time.
G D
Named for the 28th president
G A
with a Guthrie tacked to the end.
D A
born in Okemah shoes
C G
with the Dust Bowl blues,
D
a friend of the working man.
D G
Now he wasn’t partial to New York buildings
A D
that tried to touch the sky
D Bm E7 A7
West Virginia coal mines that took so many lives
G D
for the way they drove the migrant workers
G A
back over into Mexico way.
D A
and the scabs they run
C G
when they heard he’d come
D
and the bosses started to pray.
Chorus:
G A
Just a boy from Oklahoma
D Bm
on an endless one-night stand
G A
wan’drin’ and a-ramblin’
D Bm
driftin’ with the midnight sand.
G A
He played the blues and the ballads
D G
and all that came between
Em
his heart was in the Union
C A
and his soul was reachin’ out
D Am D
for the servant’s dream.
D G
Now I was talking to a man that met him
A D
in a bar near Clovis town.
D Bm
He said the whole place was a-shakin’
E7 A7
as he was passing his songs around.
G D
In between the tunes he asked him
G A
where he’d be when the morrow came
D A
He said through his grin,
C G
I put my thumb in the wind
D
and I’m off down the road again.
Chorus:
G A
Just a boy from Oklahoma
D Bm
on an endless one-night stand
G A
I wander and I ramble
D Bm
and I drift with the midnight sand.
G A
I play the blues and the ballads
D G
and all that comes between
Em
my heart is in the Union
C A
and my soul is reachin’ out
D Am D
for the servant’s dream.
D G
Now you know that Woody Guthrie
A D
Is dead and buried in the ground
D Bm
Sometimes I sing his songs
E7 A7
and I get to thinkin’ that he’s still around.
G D
I’ll hold that his fires everlastin’
G A
Testify that his voice has rung true
D A
and the ramblin’ man’s ris’
C G
and the kingdom’s his
D
but his songs are for me and you.
Chorus:
