Ruby And Carlos Chords by James Mcmurtry

[A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ Ruby said you're getting us [E] in a world of hurt. _ _ _
_ [A] Down below the Mason dumbass line [E] the food gets worse. _
_ [A] I can't go back [E] to Tennessee, _ [A] that NASCAR [D] country's not for me.
_ _ [F#m] _ _ Go on if you think you [E] must. _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
Carlos packed [D] his drums up [E] in the dark of night.
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _
Ruby's standing [D] just outside the [E] front porch light.
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _
Chain smoking [E] camel straight, [A] the sky off to [D] the east got gray. _ _
_ _ _ _ [F#m] And he rolled off in a cloud of dust, [E] _ _
_ _ and the gray coat [D] nickered [E] at the gate.
She [A] said you're right, it's getting [D] late.
_ You and [F#m] me got work to do, we can't be [E] burning _ daylight too. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ She [A] took down the [E] long lead rope [A] _ and stayed off [D] that slippery slope.
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
The [D] aspen trees were turning [E] gold up top.
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _
The talk was [D] buzzing round [E] the beauty shop.
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _
Wasn't he [E] barely half her age?
[A] _
Well that's just how they [D] do nowadays.
[F#m] _ _
_ We should all have been so lucky.
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ By spring she'd had the [E] run of the freeborn men. _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ Ruby [D] turned fifty [E] in a sheep camp tent. _
_ _ [D] Her body [A] still could [E] rock all night, but [A] her heart was closed [D] and locked up tight.
_ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ Potato fields all muddy and [E]
brown, the gossip long since quieted down.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D]
And after [E] one more Coggins test, [A]
pouring coffee [D] for the county vet. _
_ _ _ [F#m] _ Pictures on the icebox door [E] of Carlos in the first Gulf War.
[D] Black eyed, brown and youthful face, [E] smiling back from a Saudi base. _ _ _ _ _
_ And then [A] Carlos on the [E] big bay mare, [A] heavier now [D] and longer haired.
_ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _
Looking past the saddle shed, [E] from way on back inside his head. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D]
[A] And the old vet said one day [E] Ruth, [A] that colt will break an [D] egg in you. _ _
_ _ _ [F#m] Now and then one comes along, [E] you just can't ride, and he went on home. _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ [D] And the storm [E] door didn't catch, [A] it blew back [D] hard as she struck a match, [F#m] but she cupped it just in time.
_ _ _ _ _ [E] Then she sent that ashtray flying. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ [D] _
And [E] holding back the flood, [A] _ _
just [F#m] don't do no good.
[D] _ _
You [E] can't unclench your [A] teeth, to [F#m] howl the way you [D] should.
So you [E] curl your lips around [A] the taste of tears, [F#m] and the hollow sound [D] that no one owns but you.
_ _ [E] No one owns but you. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
Carlos took [D] the road [A] gig and he [E] saw it through.
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _
He rode the tour bus while [E] the singer flew.
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _
Managed [E] out a music role, [A] Carlos never saw [D] the studio. _ _ _ _ _
_ [F#m] _ Session guys had that all sewn [E] up. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ He looks out the window and it [E] starts to sleet. _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ Laying on a friend's couch on [E] Nevada Street.
_ _ _ [A] _
_ Lately he's [E] been staying high, [A] sick all winter [Dm] and they don't [A] know why.
_ _ _ [F#m] They don't know why or they just won't say, [E] they don't talk much down at the VA. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ And Ruby's [E] in his thoughts sometimes, [A] what thoughts can [D] get out past the wine? _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [F#m] _ He feels her fingers on his brow, [E] and right then he misses how she [D] looked in that gray morning light.
[E] She never shaved like they all do now.
[D] He sees it all behind his eyes and [E] his hands go searching but they come up dry. _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ [D] _ _ Halfway [E] in that waking dream, [A] _ Carlos lets the [D]
landline ring.
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [D] He'd [Am] never [E] guess it was [A] Ruby calling, a pin in her hip from [D] the gray coat falling. _ _
_ _ [F#m] _ Figure eights in a lazy lope, _ [E] _ stumbled on that slippery slope. _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ [D] _ _ Holding [E] back the [A] flood, _ _ just [F#m] don't do no good.
[D] _ You [E] can't unclench your teeth [A] _ [E] to [F#m] howl the way you should.
[D] _ So you curl [E] your lips around [A] the taste of tears [F#m] and a hollow sound that no one [D] owns but you.
_ [E] No one owns but you.
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