Bonita And Bill Butler chords by Alison Krauss

Chords with lyrics

B7B7
E----------
B----------
G--2-------
D--1-------
A--2-------
E--0-------

on the G+G chord, do this as well.
E-3------3---
B-3------2---
G-0------0---
D-0------0---
A-2------2---
E-3----2h3---

Intro: Em, D, A, C, D, E minorEm

E minorEm                 D MajorD       A augmentedA
I grew up in the scantling yards of Wheeling West Virginia
  C majorC       D MajorD          E minorEm
A augmentedA wheelhouse cub looking for an open door
E minorEm                  D MajorD     A augmentedA
In the packet ways a Sweeney wed the keel of my Bonita
   C majorC          D MajorD        E minorEm
Just two months from her timbers til she moored
E minorEm                   D MajorD     A augmentedA
I paid the fare in billet on her maiden voyage to Vicksburg
C majorC               D MajorD       E minorEm
And talked my way to hand the tiller on the course
E minorEm                      D MajorD     A augmentedA
In her planks I carved a notch and sealed the vow ¨Be my Bonita¨
C majorC          D MajorD        E minorEm
And her dowry was my life between the shores

Chorus

E minorEm        D MajorD       C majorC         G+G
I was born with rouging ways, and she steered me like a woman
     C majorC                   B7B7
From the port calls and the bawds that lead me stray
  E minorEm      D MajorD       C majorC       G+G
The calliope serenades, made the old towns come running
    C majorC                  B7B7
And the boys would gamble shards to pull her chains
       C majorC          D MajorD        E minorEm
The striker’s boast would fain me loss, about the wrecks the shoals were
A augmentedA
keeping
      C majorC          D MajorD       E minorEm
And how the old girl’s got poor Billy’s ransom saved

Em, D, A, C, D, E minorEm x2

E minorEm           D MajorD        A augmentedA
On the lake at Bistineau, she set the wharf at Dixie
    C majorC         D MajorD       E minorEm
With a thousand bales of cotton on her main
    E minorEm             D MajorD       A augmentedA
As the great raft disappeared, the watermark went sinking
      C majorC          D MajorD       E minorEm
And she was stuck right hard, a listing on the bank
     E minorEm            D MajorD       A augmentedA
With the furnace still a blaze, I stood my last upon her
   C majorC          D MajorD         E minorEm
Then climbed the prow and took a landsman’s trade
  E minorEm              D MajorD       A augmentedA
¨A derelict now Milady¨ said the watch log I’ve concorded
     C majorC       D MajorD          E minorEm
¨Have the bosun sound us eight bells for the change¨

Chorus:
   E minorEm        D MajorD       C majorC         G+G
I was born with rouging ways, and she steered me like a woman
     C majorC                   B7B7
From the port calls and the bawds that lead me stray
  E minorEm      D MajorD       C majorC       G+G
The calliope serenades, made the old towns come running

      E minorEm      D MajorD       C majorC        G+G
And I would take to wider walks, so the gin I stopped a drinking
  C majorC                B7B7
At three scores aloft this crooked frame
       C majorC          D MajorD        E minorEm
The striker’s boast would fain me loss, about the wrecks the shoals were
A augmentedA
keeping
      C majorC          D MajorD       E minorEm
And how the old girl’s got poor Billy’s ransom saved

Outro: Em, D, A, C, D, E minorEm