Mr. MacManus "fingerpicks" this song, though it can hardly be described this way since
all the strings are picked at once. I pick the bass string on each beat and occasionally
the off-beat to add some color, but the bass guitar does takes care of this in the
recording and Elvis audibly only really hits the bass once before the first chord of the song.
He uses four different diminished chords (as he is wont to do) in a couple different
positions. All the chords are tabbed at the bottom of the page. The song also has a very
jazzy rhythm which tends to stray from 4/4 from time to time because the song is so
lyric-based. It also makes it nearly impossible to play without having the recording as
A reference.
One last note, even though the chord seems to want to change from F#m to Gdim at the end
of the first few verses, it does not, and this keeps the song from becoming too
predictable as it would be with a consistently rising bass line. Probably a result of
T-Bone Burnett's masterful production. Or Elvis's songwriting for that matter. Not a bad pair.
*Lyrics from SongMeanings.com
C#m
Verse 1:
C#m Gdim
Third-class ticket in his pocket
D#m Adim
Punching out the shadows underneath the sockets
C#m G# C#m
Tweed coat turned up against the fog
... Ddim
Slow coaches rolling o'er the moor
F#m G#
Between the very memory and approaches of war
Prehorus 1:
C#m F#m
Stale bread curling on a luncheon counter
C#m F#m
Loose change lonely, not the right amount
Chorus1:
C#m F#m
Forgotten man of an indifferent nation
C#m F#m
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
C#m Gdim
Somebody's calling you again
D#m Adim
The sky is falling
... C#m F#m
Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m
Verse 2:
C#m Gdim
Nobody wants to buy
D#m Adim
a counterfeited prairie lullaby
C#m G# C#m
In a colliery town
... Ddim
The hip flask and fumbled skein
F#m G#
Of some stage door Josephine is all he'll get now
Prechorus 2:
C#m F#m
Eyes going in and out of focus
C#m F#m
Mild and bitter from tuberculosis
Chorus 2:
C#m F#m
Forgotten man, indifferent nation
C#m F#m
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
C#m Gdim
Somebody's calling you again
D#m Adim
The sky is falling
... C#m F#m
Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m F#m C#m
Bridge:
E
Her soft breath was gentle on his neck
... C#m G# C#m
If he could choose the time to die
... G#
Then he would come and go like this
C#m F#m C#m
Underneath a painted sky
E G#7/D# C#m
She woke up and called him "Charlie" by mistake
... F#m C#m
And then in shame began to cry
E
Tarnished silver band peels off a phrase
G#7/D#
And then warms their hands around the brazier
Chorus 3:
C#m F#m
Forgotten man, indifferent nation
C#m F#m
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
C#m Gdim
Somebody's calling you again
D#m Adim
It's finally dawning
... C#m F#m
Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m F#m C#m F#m C#m
Verse 4: (played sparsely)
C#m Gdim
Brilliantine glistening
D#m Adim
Your soft plaintive whistling
C#m G# C#m
And your wan wandering smile
Ddim
Died down at The Hippodrome
F#m
Now you're walking off to jeers,
E Fdim
the lonely sound of jingling spurs,
F#m B G#
The "toodle-oos" and "Oh, my dears" down at The Argyle
Prechorus 3:
C#m F#m
Vile vaudevillians applaud sobriety
C#m F#m
There's no place for a half-cut cowboy in polite society
Chorus 4:
C#m F#m
Forgotten man, indifferent nation
C#m F#m
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
C#m Gdim
Somebody's calling you again
D#m Adim
It's finally dawning
... C#m F#m
Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m Gdim
Somebody's calling you again
D#m Adim
It's finally dawning
... C#m F#m
Jimmie's standing in the rain
C#m F#m C#m
