2900 Chords

This masterpiece from Tom Waits album Blue Valentine 1978
This is a 12 barre blues format in E with a more interesting jazz flavour.
This tab is for a guitarist to play alongside the original,
try more interesting 7th and 9th chords if you can.
4/4 time
 
[Intro]
 
E A E E7
A A7 E E7
B B7 E A E B
 
[ Verse 1]
 
E                  A               E                            E7
Little black girl, in a red dress, on a hot night with a broken shoe
A                  A7
Little black girl, you should've never left home
E
There's probably someone still waitin' up for you
B                                 B7
It's cold back in Chicago but the Los Angeles street is worse
E               A            E            A             B   Bb B
All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
 
 
[Verse 2]
 
E
See that vulture in the Fleetwood with the chartreuse hood
A
Sees you're tryin' to get your bearings
E                                  E7
Say hey baby which way's the main stem
A                             A7
Wherever you say you're from, he'll say he grew up there himself
E                                                   E7
He gonna come on and make you feel like you grew up right next door to him
B                           B7
Take a left on Central, he gonna throw it in reverse
E               A            E            A             B  Bb  B
All you got is twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
 
[Verse 3]
 
E
He gonna come on just like a gentleman
A
And oh baby you're gonna be a little shy
E                                                                E7
You say your ex-old man was a sax player, he says Baby I used to play bass with Sly
A                                  A7
And you say you like his Cadillac, says honey I got two or three
E                                          E7
Sweetheart you're sure fortunate that you ran into me
B                                   B7
You've done a dime in the joint you figure nothin' could be worse
E     A           E             A             B
Than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
 
[Verse 4]
 
E
Got Pharoh on 8-track you start smokin' a little boo
E                                                  E7
Thinkin' gettin' out of Chicago was just about the best thing that's ever happened to you
A                                         A7
You startin' to like it already this cat seems to be cool
E                                                 E7
I know a good old jailhouse in West-Hollywood, be just right for you
B                             B7
He ain't no good Samaritan he gonna make sure he's reimbursed
E                A           E             A            B
A lot more than twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
 
 
[Instrumental]
 
E x4
A x2
E x2
B B7 E A E A B
 
[Verse 5]
 
E
And when the streets get hungry baby and you almost hear em growl
E                                    E7
Someones savin a place for you when the dogs begin to howl
A                                               A7
And the streets are dead they creep up and take whatever's left on the bone
E                                          E7
And remember suckers always make mistakes, when they're far away from home
B                     B7
Chicken in the pot, whoever gets there first is gonna get themselves
E      A      E             A            B Bb B
Twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
 
[Verse 6]
 
E                                  A
And the siren's just an epilogue, the cops here always get there too late
E                                               E7
They always stop for coffee on their way to the scene of the crime
A                                         A7
They always try so hard to look just like movie stars
E                                          E7
But they couldn't catch a cold, baby don't waste your dime
B                           B7
She's lucky to be alive the doctor whispered to the nurse
              A                                  E             A            B
She only lost half a pint of blood twenty-nine dollars and an alligator purse
 
 
[Instrumental Outro]
 
E x4
A x2
E x2
B B7 E A E A B
 
repeat instrumental to fade out
 
Love and peace
Kevin
X