(intro) D5 C5 D5

D5      A5               D5          G5             A5
Now my grandfather was a sailor, he blew in off the water
D5               A5         G5           A5
My father was a farmer and I, his only daughter,
D5               A5                  G5            A5
took up with a no-good millworking man from Massachusetts
    D5                  A5         G5                   A5       D5
who dies from too much whiskey and leaves me these three faces to feed

( D5 C5 G5 A5 )

A5               D5   G5             A5
Mill-work ain't easy; mill-work ain't hard
D5                   A5            G5          A5
Mill-work, it ain't nothing but an awful boring job
    D5             A5          G5                 A5
I'm waiting for a day dream to take me through the morning
    D5             A5               G5          A5            D5
and put me in my coffee break where I can have a sandwich and remember

          C5                   G5
Then it's me and my machine for the rest of the morning
        G5                 A5
for the rest of the afternoon
                    D5          C5 D5 C5
and the rest of my life

Now my mind begins to wander to the days back on the farm
I can see my father smiling at me, swingin' on his arm
I can hear my grand-dad's stories of the storms out on Lake Erie
where vessels and cargos and fortunes and sailor's lives were lost

Yes, but it's my life has been wasted, and I have been the fool
to let this manufacture use my body for a tool.
I can ride home in the evening, staring at my hands
swearing by my sorrow that a young girl ought to stand a better chance

   C5                      G5
So may I work the mills just as long as I am able
    G5                    A5              D5
and never meet the man whose name is on the label
      C5                   G5
It be me and my machine for the rest of the morning
        G5                 A5
for the rest of the afternoon
                    D5          C5 D5 C5
and the rest of my life