A Cautionary Song Chords

by The Decemberists
45,059 views, added to favorites 576 times
Difficulty: intermediate
Capo: no capo
Author Unregistered.
2 contributors total, last edit on Feb 7, 2022

Chords

Dm
Dm/A
G/D
G
A
Bb
F
Gm

Strumming

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[Intro]
Dm Dm/A (x4)
 
[Verse]
Dm                   Dm/A              Dm        Dm/A            G/D
There's a place your mother goes, when everybody else is soundly sleeping 
Dm                    Dm/A
Through the lights of beacon street 
Dm                Dm/A             G
And if you listen you can hear her weeping, 
      A                  Bb
She's weeping, cause the gentlemen are calling  
                                      F
And the snow is softly falling on her petticoats. 
           Bb
And she's standing in the harbour 
                                         F
And she's waiting for the sailors in the jolly boat. 
        A
See how they approach 
Dm                   Dm/A               Dm                 Dm/A
With dirty hands and trousers torn they grapple 'til she's safe
             G/D
within their keeping 
  Dm              Dm/A              Dm             Dm/A
A gag is placed between her lips to keep her sorry tongue from
    G            A
any speaking, or screaming 
         Bb
And they row her out to packets where the sailor's sorry racket
          F
calls for maidenhead 
          Bb
And she's scarce above the gunwales when her clothes fall to a
                 F                  A
bundle and she's laid in bed on the upper deck 
 
[Interlude]
Gm              A           Gm           A
La la la la laa,la la la laa,
 
[Verse]
Dm                   Dm/A              Dm                  Dm/A
And so she goes from ship to ship, her ankles clasped, her arms
          G/D
so rudely pinioned 
Dm                 Dm/A          Dm           Dm/A
Till at last she's satisfied the lot of the marina's teeming
G                  A
minions, in their opinions 
         Bb
And they tell her not to say a thing to cousin, kindred, kith or
              F
kin or she'll end up dead 
         Bb
And they throw her thirty dollars and return her to the harbour
          F                        A
where she goes to bed, and this is how you're fed 
     Gm                                   A
So be kind to your mother, though she may seem an awful bother,
        Gm                                      A
and the next time she tries to feed you collard greens,
                                          A    Dm
Remember what she does when you're asleep
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A Cautionary Song – The Decemberists
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"A Cautionary Song"
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2 comments
iwrath
I got the jist of it, pretty simple song. G/D though doesn't really sound right. First part of the verses are just Dm with alternating open d open a bass note. Dm-Dm/A-Dm-Dm/A-G, etc
+1
iwrath
all the chords have that 1st/5th bass note thing going on
0