INTRO:  D5 G5 A5 D5 
 
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He was standing by the highway 
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with a sign that just said mother 
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when he heard a driver coming  
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about a half a mile away 
 

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so he held the sign up higher 
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so no decent soul could miss it 
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it was ten degrees or colder 
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down by boulder dam that day 
 

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he was raised up in milwaukee 
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though he never was that famous 
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he was just a road musician 
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to the taverns he would go 
 

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singing songs about the rambling 
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the loving girls and gambling 
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how the world fell on his shoulder 
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back in boulder I don't know 
 

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it was out in arizona 
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and he heard the lady listening 
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to each word that he was singing 
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to each line that he would write 

 
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so he sat down by her table 
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and they talked about the weather 
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98.6  and rising  
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down by boulder dam that night 
 

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and she told him she would take him 
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for a ride in the morning sun 
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back in boulder he had told her 
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I don't know when I've had a better friend 
 

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now he's traded off his martin 
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but his troubles are not over 
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his feet are almost frozen 
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and the sun is sinking low 
 

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won't you listen to me brother 
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if you loved your mother 
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please pull off on the shoulder 
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if you're going milwaukee way 
 

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it's ten degrees and getting colder 
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down by boulder dam today