Difficulty
Intermediate πͺ
Rate for accuracy
🎸
Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)
Key: E
Intro:
C F C F/C C
Verse:
C F/C C
He was standing by the highway
C F/C C
With a sign that just said 'Mother'
C F/C C
He heard a driver coming
D7 G
About a half a mile away
Verse:
G C F/C C
And he held the sign up higher
C F/C C
So no decent soul could miss it
C F/C C
It was ten degrees or colder
C G C F C
Down by Boulder Dam that day
Verse:
C F/C C
He was raised up in Milwaukee
C F/C C
Though he never was that famous
C F/C C
He was just a road musician
C D7 G
To the taverns he would go
Verse:
G C F/C C
Singing songs about the rambling
C F/C C
The loving girls and gambling
C F C
How the world fell on his shoulders
C G C
Back in Boulder I don't know
Instrumental:
C F/C C D7 F G7
Verse:
G C
It was out in Arizona
C F/C C
That he heard the lady listening
C F C
To each word that he was singing
C D7 G
To each line that he would write
Verse:
G C F/C C
So he sat down by her table
C F/C C
And they talked about the weather
C F/C C
Ninety-eight point six and rising
C G C
Down by Boulder Dam that night
Bridge:
C Fmaj7 Am7
And she told him she would take him
C F C
For a ride in the morning sun
C Fmaj7 Am7
Back in Boulder he had told her
C F
Don't know when
C Am7/G C
I had a better friend
Verse:
G C
Now he's traded off his Martin
C F/C C
But his troubles are not over
C F/C C
For his feet are almost frozen
D7 G
And the sun is sinking low
Verse:
C F/C C
Won't you listen to me brother
C F/C C
If you've ever loved your mother
F C F/C C
Please pull off on the shoulder
D7 G
If you're going Milwaukee way
Outro:
C
It's ten degrees and getting colder
C G7 C
Down by Boulder Dam today
Song History
Published: July 7, 2021
Last Updated: September 10, 2025