Cm                  Gm              Cm
A bunch of guys was in this bar room
Eb                          Cm          Eb Cm
Most of them had been there half the day
Eb                            F           Ab
They'd been telling jokes and fairy tales lying
        F                 Ab Cm
Just to pass the time away
Eb            Cm      Eb
Then suddenly someone cracked the bar room door
Gm
And then pushed it open wide
         Cm   Gm
And this huge tall dark dude
Cm                 Eb            Cm Eb
Bowed his head and stepped inside
Cm                  Eb
I wonder where he's from?
                 Cm
Some blonde asked
    Eb                         Cm
The wind must have blown him in
           Eb
But an old Dutchman offered him a drink
Cm               Eb             F
What will it be, whisky, rum or gin?
                 Ab              F
Sick him Fido, a redhead shouted
     Ab                            Cm
Show him his way back to the street
    Eb                                  Cm
But the Great Dane just walked over and licked his hand
    Eb                  Gm
And lay down at his feet
Gm
He said if you spare me that drink, Dutchman
Gm                         Cm
I promise I'll tell you how
               Eb                   Cm
That I came to be the helpless sight
                       Eb
That stands before you now
Cm
I used to be an artist
E                           Cm             Eb
Not one who sits and fiddle out on the curb
Cm
But in my day and time
                        Eb     F
My music was considered superb
F
I wrote a song about a poor kid
               Ab          Cm
Raised down in New Orleans
          Eb
It didn't make the hall of fame
Cm                                Eb    Gm
But it bought us shrimp, rice and beans
              Ab
He kept at it until it made the big time,
Gm                 F   Cm
Playing town after town
Ab                   Eb
Until he met a woman he fell in love with
Cm                                  Eb
And it really turned his life around
Cm
She had eyes like Cleopatra
F             Ab
And a head of luxurious hair
Cm                     Eb
With the brilliance of her beauty
     Cm                 Eb
None other could compare
     F                      Ab
When she lifted her eyes to his
    F                    Ab
Her lips would fall apart
     Cm                           Eb
Each time she allowed him kiss her
   Cm                      Eb
It near petrified his heart
         Gm
But when he ask her would she marry him
Gm                             F
He'd give her everything he had
           Cm             Eb
She turned and walked away
              Gm           Eb Cm
And it nearly drove him mad
            Eb                  F
He promised her a half a million
                   Ab        Cm
And would even pay in advance
                     Eb           Cm
If she would let him prove himself
            E                F
Or at least give him a chance
                    Ab
And if he should go blind
           F                    Ab
And had to use his hands to feel
         Cm                     Eb
He would hire someone to do her work
            Ab            Eb Gm
And prepare her every meal
            Cm                      Eb
How could a man love a woman so much?
                           Gm F
Not one of you would think!
            Ab    Cm
Well, I did and I still do
Ab            Gm
Hey Dutchman, you promised me a drink!