John Doe No 24(Tabs)

	        This song is in the key of E, but Mary Chapin plays it in G with a 
capo at the 9th fret, in open D tuning (DADF#AD).  But the highest 
string is never used, so you don't have to tune that one down; since 
high E's often break, you may as well tune to DADF#AE. 
 
The guitar part repeats one pattern through the entire song, with some 
slight variations.  This tablature is for the first four measures of 
the intro, and it shows two ways to play the end of the pattern; through 
most of the song, she uses the second way, especially while she's 
singing.  (Note that the '131' in the tab is a hammer-on followed by a 
pull-off, and the '13' is a hammer-on from 1 to 3, not thirteen! 
 
D  ----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------| 
A  ------0---------|----------------|------0---------|----------------| 
F# 1-------1-----1-|------1-131---0-|1-------1-----1-|------1-13----0-| 
D  ----0-------0---|----0-------0---|----0-------0---|----0-------0---| 
A  --2-------3-----|--3-------------|--2-------3-----|--3-------0-----| 
D  0-------2-------|0-------0-------|0-------2-------|0-------0-------| 
   ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .  ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .   
 
I'm not sure exactly which fingers she uses; she might use her thumb 
to fret the low E.  (If anyone finds out, let me know.)  Notice that 
I didn't put chord names; that's because they don't really matter. 
I guess you could say the chords are: G(9), C(9)/E, C(9)/D, D(4). 
 
 
LYRICS (each line is two measures): 
 
I was standing on the sidewalk in 1945 
In Jacksonville, Illinois 
When asked what my name was there came no reply 
They said I was a deaf and sightless half-wit boy 
But Louis was my name, though I could not say it 
I was born and raised in New Orleans 
My spirit was wild, so I let the river take it 
On a barge and a prayer upstream 
 
Well they searched for a mother and they searched for a father 
And they searched till they searched no more 
The doctors put to rest their scientific tests 
And they named me 'John Doe No. 24' 
And they all shook their heads in pity 
For a world so silent and dark 
Well there's no doubt that life's a mystery 
But so too is the human heart 
 
And it was my heart's own perfume when the crepe jasmine bloomed 
On Rue Morgue Avenue 
Though I couldn't hear the bells of the streetcars coming 
By toeing the track I knew 
And if I were an old man returning 
With my satchel and porkpie hat 
I'd hit every jazz joint on Bourbon 
And I'd hit everyone on Basin after that 
 
{sixteen-bar saxophone solo} 
 
The years kept passing as they passed me around 
From one state ward to another 
Like I was an orphan shoe from the lost and found 
Always missing the other 
And they gave me a harp last Christmas 
And all the nurses took a dance 
But lately I've been growing listless 
I've been dreaming again of the past 
 
I'm wandering down to the banks of the great Big Muddy 
Where the shotgun houses stand 
I am seven years old and I feel my dad 
Reach out for my hand 
While I drew breath no one missed me 
So they won't on the day that I cease 
Put a sprig of crepe jasmine with me 
To remind me of New Orleans 
 
I was standing on the sidewalk in 1945 
In Jacksonville, Illinois 
{pause on A note (open 2nd string)} 
 
{repeat and fade with saxophone solo} 
 
 
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Adam Schneider             [email protected]           Minneapolis, MN 
          Mail me if you want guitar chords for Mary-Chapin Carpenter, 
               Indigo Girls, Suzanne Vega, Lucinda Williams, etc. 
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