Iditarod Chords

[Verse 1]
          G
There’s a race across the frozen snow,
         Em
And it’s run from Anchorage into Nome;
 C
Across a land that was built by God,
       D
It’s a race they call Iditarod.
     Em
I’ve run that race myself three times,
G
When I’d lose I’d start to cryin’,
 C
Figured I’d never race again,
 D
Until I found me a way to win.
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 2]
 G
So I got me a mail-order PhD,
 Em
In bio-medical genealogy,
 C
Tricky Tongue Twisters
 
I needed dogs that were fast and mean,
D
I started into splicing genes.
 Em
I got chromosomes from a thoroughbred mare,
 G
Pitbull, cheetah and a grizzly bear,
 C
Added some wolverine and gazelle,
 D
A little bit of road-runner – what the hell –
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 3]
 G
I spliced them all to some husky genes,
 Em
There was just enough to make me a team,
 C
I crossed my fingers and I made a wish,
 D
And tossed each one in a Petri dish,
 Em
Well, three months later them pups were born,
 G
They had spotted hair and hooves and horns,
 C
They were big and mean and awful strong,
 D
And each one thought I was his Mom…
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 4]
      G
Well, finally race day came around,
 Em
And I brought my team to Anchortown,
C
We went running off down the street,
 D
With a growl and a whinny and a “Beep-beep!”
Em
Out of Wasilla into Knik,
 G
Running so fast it was making me sick,
 C
Through Yentna, Skwentna, mountains high,
D
We were third into Nikolai,
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 5]
 G
We rested for twenty-four in McGrath,
Em
Out of Ophir moving fast,
C
Underneath the sky so blue,
D
Out of Kaltag, number two,
 Em
Against the wind, ‘cross ice so thick,
 G
First place into Shaktoolik,
 C
But while we were running along,
 D
I could tell there was something going wrong
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 6]
 G
So I set up my electron microscope,
 Em
Gave one of my dogs a needle poke;
C
Put some blood into that machine,
 D
But I couldn’t believe what I was seein’,
 Em
The gazelle genes were starting to shake,
 G
The bear genes wanted to hibernate,
 C
The thoroughbred genes still wanted to run,
 D
But each of them wolverine genes was done…
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 7]
 G
They were flopping around like a bunch of bats,
 Em
Their insides fighting like dogs and cats,
 C
With facial tics, and burps and farts,
 D
Their double-helix was falling apart.
 Em
At Safety, they gave a mighty roar,
 G
Broke their lines and away they tore,
C
Out across the tundra gray,
Tricky Tongue Twisters
 D
In each of sixteen different ways…
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 
[Verse 8]
 G
Now I pulled that sled all on my own,
 Em
I was sixty-third ‘neath the arch in Nome,
 C
And not one single dog was left,
 D
Of the team I thought would win that test.
 Em
But I know that they are out there still,
 G
They’d be too difficult to kill,
 C
You’d need fourteen tags and permits too,
 D
Like getting permission to shoot a zoo,
 Em
So if you ever run into my hybrid beasts,
 G
Take a photograph at least,
 C
Give them my best as they run by,
 D
And let them know that their Mom says “Hi!”
 
[Chorus]
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
 G        Em        C         D     G
Iditarod, Iditarod, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Iditarod.
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