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    Powderfinger

    by Neil Young
    [C] Look out, Mama,
    there's a [F] white boat
    comin' up the [C] river [F\C]

    With a [F] big red beacon, and a flag,
    and a man on the [C] rail [F\C]

    I think you'd [F] better call John,
    'Cause it [Am] don't look like they're here
    to [Em] deliver, the [F] mail

    And it's [Em] less than a mile [F] away
    I [Em] hope they didn't come to [F] stay
    It's got [Em] numbers on the side
    and a [Am] gun
    And it's makin' big [G] waves.

    [C] [F\C]

    Daddy's gone,
    my brother's out hunting
    in the mountains

    Big John's been drinking
    since the river took Emmy-Lou

    So the powers that be
    left me here
    to do the thinkin'

    And I just turned twenty-two
    I was wonderin' what to do
    And the closer they got,
    The more those feelings grew

    (solo)

    Daddy's rifle in my hand
    felt reassurin'

    He told me,
    Red means run, son,
    numbers add up to nothin'

    But when the first shot
    hit the docks I saw it comin'

    Raised my rifle to my eye
    Never stopped to wonder why.
    Then I saw black,
    And my face splashed in the sky.

    (solo 2)

    Shelter me from the powder
    and the finger

    Cover me with the thought
    that pulled the trigger

    Think of me
    as one you'd never figured

    Would fade away so young
    With so much left undone
    Remember me to my love,
    I know I'll miss her.