Chords with lyrics
3/4 | 
G+G / / | G+G / / | G+G / /| G+G / / |
G+G 
C majorC G+G
Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain
C majorC
I was just passin' through and got caught in the rain
G+G
There's nothin' I want, nothin' that you need say
D MajorD G+G
Just let me lie down for a while and I'll be on my way
G+G C majorC G+G
I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen
C majorC
With the police on my back I fled to New Orleans
G+G
I fought in the dockyards and with the money I made
D MajorD G+G
I knew the fight was my home and blood was my trade
G+G C majorC G+G
Baton Rouge, Poncitoula, and Lafayette town
C majorC
Well they paid me their money, Ma, I knocked the men down
G+G
I did what I did well it come easily
D MajorD G+G |
Restraint and mercy, Ma, were always strangers to me
HARP SOLO
| G+G | G+G | G+G | C majorC |C majorC | 
E minorEm | E minorEm | G+G | C majorC | C majorC | C majorC | G+G | G+G | G+G | G+G
G+G C majorC G+G
I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud
C majorC
Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood
G+G
In the twelfth I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw
C majorC
I stood over him and pounded his bloody body into the floor
G+G
Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on
D MajorD G+G
'Till I felt my glove leather slip 'tween his skin and bone
G+G C majorC G+G
Then the women and the money came fast and the days I lost track
C majorC
The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black
G+G
I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets
D MajorD G+G
I took my good share, Ma, I have no regrets
G+G C majorC G+G
Then I took the fix at the state armory with big John McDowell
C majorC
From high in the rafters I watched myself fall
G+G
As he raised his arm my stomach twisted and the sky it went black
D MajorD G+G
I stuffed my bag with their good money and I never looked back
C majorC G+G
Understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the game
D MajorD G+G
If you know me one different then speak out his name
C majorC
Ma if my voice now you don't recognize
G+G D MajorD G+G
Then just open the door and look into your dark eyes
C majorC
I ask of you nothin', not a kiss not a smile,
G+G D MajorD G+G
Just open the door and let me lie down for a while
G+G C majorC G+G
Now the gray rain's fallin' and my ring fightin's done
C majorC
So in the work fields and alleys I take all who'll come
G+G
If you're a better man than me then just step to the line
C majorC
Show me your money and speak out your crime
G+G
Now there's nothin' I want, Ma, nothin' that you need say
D MajorD G+G
Just let me lie down for a while and I'll be on my way
G+G
Tonight in the shipyard a man draws a circle in the dirt
C majorC
I move to the center and I take off my shirt
G+G
I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, Man, nor time can erase
D MajorD C majorC G+G
I move hard to the left and I strike to the face
