Chords for Robert Earl Keen Performs "The Front Porch Song" | Southern Living

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ I somewhat unofficially started my music career in College Station, Texas on Church Street
across from the Presbyterian Church.
[F]
My good [Cm] friend, Lyle [F] Lovett and I documented in a [N] song called the Front Porch Song, or
he calls it This Old Porch.
It was all about sitting out on a porch _ and the good weather, the not so good weather,
the bad weather, and playing guitars and mandolins and fiddles and singing old country
music [C] and bluegrass music [D#] and little [F] tunes that we made up.
Pretty much [G#] if we could have gotten a [D#m] _
degree in what we were doing, we'd [G#] all be PhDs [E] today.
_ _ _ [B] _ [A] _ _ [C#m] _
[F#] _ _ _ [C#m] _ [D] _ [E] _ _ _
[E] _ _ [D] _ [A] [E] This old porch is just a big old [F#] red and white Hereford Bull [Bm] standing [Em] under a [D] mesquite tree.
[Em] [D] I went to Tulsa, [C#m] Texas, he just [A] keeps [Em] on playing [A] hide and [E] seek [F#] with that hot August sun.
[G] He's sweating at a [D] panting, [Em] but his [D] _ [E] work is never done.
_ [F#m] No, no, he's [G] got them [D] cows.
_ [E] That red [Dm] top [B] cane, this [A] old porch is just a steaming [F#m] greasy plate of enchiladas [D] with
[G] lots of cheese [D] and onions, [E]
guacamole [C#m] salad, [B] you [A] can get them at the [G#m] LaSalle [F#m] Hotel in old
downtown [Bm] with iced [G] tea and a waitress who'll smile [C#m] _ [E] every [A] time [E] you ask her [F#m] will.
I left [D] a quarter tip [E] on my [Dm] ten [A] dollar [Em] bill.
This old [A] porch is a palace [C#m] walk in [F#m] on a mainstream Texas, [D] ain't [E] never seen her the day.
A G and R and [A] [B] X's with a [A]
[Em] 62 [A] poster.
[E] [F#] It's almost faded down [D] and a screen without a picture [E] since [A] John _ came to [C#] _ [E] town.
[F#m] Oh no. _ _
[D] Oh, oh.
_ _ [E] Here we [D] go.
[C#m]
I wrote [A] this song, my friend, a lot of love it [C#m] _ [F#m] on the front porch of my house on [D] Church
Street across from the [E] Presbyterian [D] Church, [A] which means that I was [B] predestined to [A] be here today.
[F#m] _ _
_ [D] And behind [A] the Dixie Chicken, which was a [E] beer joint [D] where [A] _ [C#] students used [A] to go to [C#m] relax
after a [F#m] hard day of taking classes.
[D] _ _ I went there to relax [A] after a hard day of skipping classes.
_ [B] _ [A] _ [F#m] Lyle and I and my other buddies there [D] at school used to [Em] sit on the front porch [A] of our house
and play music.
[E] _ [F#m]
We played _ [D] bluegrass music.
Let me [E] rephrase that.
We [A] ruined bluegrass music for a lot of people. _ _
[F#m] When we played country music, [D] we played [E] _ old traditional country [D] music.
[C#m] Hank [A] Williams, George [E] Jones, [F#m] _ Tammy [C#] Wynette.
[D] We had a couple of nice [E] dresses for that.
We looked pretty good when [A] we were singing [B] _ [A] Stand [F#m] By Your Man.
Somebody [Bm] always had to be the man [E] though. _ _
_ _ [C#m] _ [A] The rest of this song is about my [E] landlord, Mr.
[F#m] Jack Boyette.
He used to pull up in [D] the heat of the day and roll down the window just enough [E] to be
heard, not enough to [C#m] let in the air conditioning [A] escape.
And he would holler [E] out, [F#m] Robert Keene, Robert [D] Keene, can you [Em] come help me [D] for a [A] minute?
And I'd jump in his truck and go [F#m] out to his ranch where we would [Bm] fix his [E] fences, feed
his crow bait [A] horses, [B] _ [A] _ count his Hereford [E] cross [F#m] cattle.
And [D] I never had the courage to ask him what he crossed those [E] cows with.
[C#m] But I went to [A] an agricultural college and I knew [E] for sure that [F#m] he didn't cross them
with other [G] cows. _ _ _
_ _ [D] [C#] And afterwards, we'd [A] go in his house and [F#m] his wife would fix [Em] us a pimento cheese sandwich.
[D]
[E] This song is just [A] ripe with food references.
_ _ [E] _
[F#m] _ _ _ [D] And we'd sit down there at that [E] little four-mica table, [A] say grace, and he'd split that sandwich [E] three [F#m] ways.
_ And [D] afterwards, he'd look up at me and he'd say, I got [Em] something for you, Robert [A] Keene,
_ Robert Keene.
_ [E] _
[F#m] _ _ He'd reach [D] in the top pocket of his khaki shirt and pull [E] out a [A] check.
Right in the pay the order section, he'd write, Robert [G#] Keene, [F#m] Robert Keene.
You [D] really didn't do that.
I'd just like to say [E] my name over and over again.
[C#m] _ [B] [A] In the amount section, he'd [E] write, [F#m] two dollars.
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [E]
I don't know if you've ever [C#m] got a check for two [A] dollars or [B] not, [A] _ [E] _
[F#m] _ but it's [D] set you [E] back.
I'll tell you that. _
_ [D] _ [A] He'd say, is that enough, Robert Keene, Robert [E] Keene?
[F#m] _ _ _ _ [D] _ And I didn't want to tell [E] him that it [D] was [C#m] embarrassing [B] or that it was [A] [E] humiliating [F#m] to
stand across from that beautiful [D] little teller girl there at the College Station [E] State [D] Bank
[C#m] and slide that check [A] for two dollars over to her [G#] and [F#m] ask her, can you [A] cash this, [D] miss? _ _ _
[E] And her [C#] look back up at [A] me with that look that I've [E] seen in [F#m] so many women's eyes ever since.
[D] _ _ That look [E] that says, [D] you [A] are the biggest loser I have seen in quite [E] some [F#m] time.
But I couldn't tell him [D] that.
No, sir, [G] I had to tell him, thank [C#m] you, Mr.
Boyette, I [A] got bills to pay.
_ [E] _
[F#m] And this is going to come in [D] mighty [E] handy.
_ [D] _ [E] _
_ [D] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [E]
[F#m] And that's about it.
_ [D] We'll jump back in my [E] time machine.
And [C#m] here we go.
[A] This old porch, just a weathered [F#m] gray-haired 70 years of Texas.
[D] He's doing all he [E] can.
Not to give into the [A] city.
And he always takes the [E] rent late.
[F#m] So long as I run his cattle.
[E] He picks me up at dinner time.
I listen [C#m] to him [B] rattle.
He [A] says the brizes still runs [E] muddy [F#m] like she's run all along.
[Bm] There ain't never been no cane to grind.
[E] The cotton's [A] all but [E] gone.
You know, [A] their Chevrolet pickup [E] truck, [F#m] she's something back in 60.
[D] Now there won't nobody listen to [A] him.
They all think he's crazy.
This old porch just a long [E] [F#m] time waiting and forgetting.
[G] _ Remembering the coming back.
Not crying about [C#m] the leaving.
[Em] And remembering [A] the [E] falling down [F#] and the laughter of the curse [Bm] of luck from all [G] those [D]
passersby.
[E] Who said we'd [A] never get back up.
[E] _ [F#m] _ _ _ [C#m] _ [D] _ [A] _ [D] _
_ [E] _ [D] _ [C#m] This [A] old porch just a big [E] old red [F#] and white Hereford bull [D] standing under a mesquite tree.
[E] Hiding all [C#m] the [Em] dulcet.
He keeps [A] on playing hide and [F#m] seek with that hot August [E] sun.
[D] He's sweating in a pen.
[E] His _ work is never _ done.
Now, [F#m] now, _ [C#m] I've known [D] a whole lot of old bulls in my [E] life and their work is [C#m] never [A] done.
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G#] _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _