Sparrows Point chords by Richard Shindell

Richard Shindell - Sparrows Point


CAPO: 4th Fret



INTRO: C  G  Am

       C           G      Am
My name is William Taylor
          C         G
And I was born in '24
    Am               C     G      Am
Too late to know the Great Fallen
   C                      G
In time to know the Great Fall
        F      C       G     Am
When my father died of money
   F               C     G
My mother lived in spite
   F                        C     G  Am
We laughed when nothing was funny
                     C                G
And how we wept when nothing was left

     Am          C         G    Am
So I left her there in boomtown
       C                      G
When I reached fifteen years
      Am         C          G    Am
And I travelled mostly northeast
        C                     G
With my head held mostly down
            F              C       G         Am
'Cause they said there was more in Baltimore
            F         C           G
Where those shipyards never close
        F         C         G    Am
You can sell the man your labour
    C              G          Am
And send the money home


         C        G         Am
Broadway found me penniless
        C                     G
And the mission found me last
     Am        C        G          Am
They gave me a coat and three days rest
         C                G
And when I awoke and left
  F              C   G          Am
A shroud of steam surrounded me
    F            C   G
And I was borne away
      F           C   G          Am
And I found myself at Sparrows Point
                  C     G        Am
With a slingshot in my hand


         C      G        Am
Standing there around me
             C    G
Two thousand idle hands
      Am             C       G             Am
Their heads bowed low, their hopes not high
      C                       G
Their hearts weaned of their homes
          F           C        G      Am
And their pockets full of photographs
      F           C        G
Their eyes full of goodbyes
  F            C      G       Am
I took my place among my kind
                   C      G      Am
And I held my place in line


INSTRUMENTAL: Am  C  G  Am  C    G  (2x)
              F  C  G  Am  F  C  G    F  C  G  Am    C  G


        Am        C    G             Am
Now I'm twenty-one and well-employed
           C               G
And I send home most of my pay
            Am          C        G       Am
Which leaves plenty left for cigarettes
        C                G
To help me pass the days
       F            C   G          Am
With beloved friends surrounding me
         F             C      G
The cold streets so far away
F          C       G     Am
Three days west of Normandy
          C        G
A rifle in my hand