Transcribed by Jason Leonard

Intro:  0:00- 0:23
A5  D5  C5  G5
A5  D5  C5  G5

VERSE:  0:24- 1:09

A5             D5                               C5
"Joliet," she says, "is the darkest part of a man..."
     G5
It's angry and slick
A5                  D5                           C5
into those letters writes through herself each time
         G5
that she thinks of him
A5                  D5                     C5
Trips her way down south, into mystery's mouth
       G5
and he follows her there
A5                     D5                          C5
It's what she doesn't say that makes you want to stay
           G5
and try to comfort her


Chorus:  1:10- 1:32

  D5 *             C5 *        B5 *
I talked to the cousins of people who knew you
  D5 *             C5 *               B5 *
I asked them the questions they expected to hear, like
D5 *      C5 *           B5 *
maybe a killing went down in your town
A5
maybe it's the prison or the birth of barbed wire

1:33- 1:44
A5  D5  C5  G5

Verse:  1:45- 2:30

A5             D5                               C5
"Joliet," she says, "is the darkest part of a man..."
                 G5
It's shaped like liberty's bell
A5                       D5                             C5
it's cracked and common law, stretched out over it's flaws
             G5
just like an ink-less well
A5                    D5                         C5
The hanging judge in town records her comments down
              G5
she saves the crowd the truth
    A5                D5                       C5
and deals with it herself, fills that hollow well,
             G5
with nothing left to prove


Chorus:  2:31- 2:53

  D5 *            C5 *            B5 *
I talked to the mountains and streams that pushed through there
  D5 *            C5 *             B5 *
I talked to the trees that had no fruit to bear
D5 *                 C5 *        B5 *
to the colorless people that sat there beneath her
A5
curled up and stared

2:54- 3:17  (SOLO)
A5  D5  C5  G5
A5  D5  C5  G5

3:18- 3:51  (SOLO & band)
A5  D5  C5  G5
D5  C5  B5
D5  C5  B5
D5  C5  B5  A5

Chorus:  3:52- end

  D5 *            C5 *         B5 *
I talked to the cousins of people who knew you
  D5 *             C5 *               B5 *
I asked them the questions they expected to hear, like
D5 *      C5 *            B5 *
maybe a killing went down in your town
A5
maybe it's the prison or the birth of barbed wire... Joliet