Bonita And Bill Butler chords by Alison Krauss

B7
E----------
B----------
G--2-------
D--1-------
A--2-------
E--0-------

on the 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, Em

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

Chorus

Em                D             C                 G
I was born with rouging ways, and she steered me like a woman
         C                                     B7
From the port calls and the bawds that lead me stray
    Em            D              C              G
The calliope serenades, made the old towns come running
        C                                    B7
And the boys would gamble shards to pull her chains
              C                   D               Em
The striker’s boast would fain me loss, about the wrecks the shoals were
A
keeping
            C                   D              Em
And how the old girl’s got poor Billy’s ransom saved



Em, D, A, C, D, Em x2

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

Chorus:
     Em                D             C                 G
I was born with rouging ways, and she steered me like a woman
         C                                     B7
From the port calls and the bawds that lead me stray
    Em            D              C              G
The calliope serenades, made the old towns come running

            Em            D             C               G
And I would take to wider walks, so the gin I stopped a drinking
   C                               B7
At three scores aloft this crooked frame
              C                   D               Em
The striker’s boast would fain me loss, about the wrecks the shoals were
A
keeping
            C                   D              Em
And how the old girl’s got poor Billy’s ransom saved

Outro: Em, D, A, C, D, Em