Chords for DAY365B - Tom Russell - Blue Wing

[N] Here's one, and [C] this, [Bbm] if the Renison family here tonight [G] will do this for them, because Colleen Renison [Bbm] _ drove on a motorcycle [Ab] from Vancouver all the way down to [F] Austin a [Gb] couple weeks ago and sang this with me, a great singer from No Sinner, [C] that band, and a [Gb] real gutsy version of this song.
This is one called Blue [Fm] Wing.
_ [Gb] _ _ [B] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ _ [Fm] A song that really did [Bb] come out of Vancouver for me [Gb] and working those bars.
And every once in a while Chief [A] Dan George [Ab] himself would come in and [Bb] sit right in front of me [Ab] and request the ballad of [F] Ira Hayes.
And he would just sit there looking at me and he'd go, that's [E] good.
_ [Gb] And he would [C] leave. _
But I felt a [G] rapport with him.
And right next door was Steem's Hot Dogs.
[C] Hot Dogs were 25 cents.
_ And if some of the junkies got out of hand, old Steem, he was a gentleman from China, would get up and get the _ greasy fat that was about [Ab] 3,000 degrees with his [Gb] ladle and threaten to throw it in their face.
I love this kind of stuff.
[Eb] _ _ Because I knew I was going to get out of there eventually.
_ [Bb] _ I'll tell you more stories tomorrow, really.
I got a lot of them.
I was a census taker on East Hays Street.
I _ got to go up into all those old hotels and meet some very interesting [C] characters.
_ And that's probably where [Bb] this song came from.
Dave Alvin does a great [E] version of this song.
[A] And when I first met that Beckman [Ab] _ in El Paso a few years ago, he was doing a concert and he came up to me and said, [Bbm]
would you mind if I sang a song of yours?
[Bb] And I said, which one?
[Gm] He said, Blue Wing.
And I said, I'd be honored.
So since [C] we're in _ [Fm] _ Vancouver, [Bb] I would consider [Bbm] _ one of my hometowns, [Bb] we're going to attempt to go out on the high wire tonight and attempt it [E] as a duet.
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ Never been done.
_ Except last night in _ _ _ Bellingham and the night before that.
We always bring something new to the show. _ _ _
But we're going to do some Thad Beckman guitar music in a minute.
But here's that song.
And I used to meet guys that got out of the BC pen and tell me they liked this song.
And I played it in Edmonton Max one time.
Believe me, it was the only song that went over.
_ _ They didn't even like Muhammad Ali or the Pugilists.
_ They were waiting for Blue Wing.
_ _ And I got out of there, but my nerves were shot after that. _ _
_ _ _ _ Are you ready for that?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ You like that?
_ It's pretty good. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
He had a blue wing _ _ _ tattooed on his shoulder. _ _ _
_ _ Well, it might have been a blue bird.
I don't [Dm] know. _ _ _ _
_ But he gets stoned drunk and talk about Alaska. _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] Lord, [G] the sad boats and 45 [C] below. _ _ _ _
He said he got that blue wing up [D] in [C] Baltimore. _ _ _ _
_ Where his cellmate there was little Willie [Dm] John. _ _ _
_ _ Now Willie, he was once a great blues singer. _ _
_ _ [G] So him and Willie wrote him up a [C] song. _ _ _
He said, it's dark in here. _ _ _
Can't see [F] the sky. _ _ _
_ _ [C] But look at this blue wing and it _ [G] proves my right.
Lord, I fly [C] away _ _ _ _ beyond [F] these walls, _ up [C] above the clouds, _ _ where there ain't [G] no fog _ _ on [Gb] a poor man's [Am] dream. _
_ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ Well, [C] they paroled Blue Wing in August _ _ _ _ 1963.
_ _ He moved north picking apples _ to the town of Winnipeg.
[D] _ _ _ [Bb] But winter finally caught [Dm] him in a run down trailer park _ on [G] the south side of Seattle, where the [C] days grow grey and dark.
_ But he drank and he dreamt a vision. _
_ How the salmon still ran free.
How his father's fathers crossed that old, [Dm] wild prairies. _
_ _ That land belonged to everyone.
_ And there were old songs yet to sing.
_ And I [G] was narrowed down to a cheap hotel.
[C] I had a new place in the world.
It's dark in here. _ _ _
Can't see [F] the sky, everybody. _
_ [C] But look at this blue wing and it _ [G] proves my right.
Lord, I [C] fly away _ _ _ beyond [F] these walls, _ up [C] above the _ clouds, _ where there ain't [G] no fog _ _ on a poor [Am] man's dream. _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[D] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Well, he drank his way to L.A. _ _ And that's where he died.
_ But no one knew his Christian name.
There was no [D] one that cried.
_ But I dreamt [Dm] there was a service.
_ _ [D] A preacher in an old pine box.
[G] And over halfway through the sermon, _ a [C] old blue wing began to talk.
He said, it's dark in here. _ _ _
Can't see the [F] sky, _ _ _ _ but [C] look at this blue wing and it _ [G] proves my right.
Lord, I [C] fly away _ _ _ _ _ beyond [F] these _ walls, up [C] above the _ clouds, _ where there ain't [G] no fog _ on a [Am] poor man's dream. _ _
_ _ [G] Yeah, _ _ _ _ on a [Am] poor man's dream. _ _
_ _ [G] Yeah, _ _ _ on [C] a poor _ man's dream. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ [Bb] _
_ _ [Ab] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _