...SWEET GENE VINCENT... by Ian Dury & The Blockheads
------------------------.............................

*from 'New Boots and Panties!' (1977)*


Intro:

(Spoken):

                F
Blue Gene baby...

F, Dm (x2)

F
 Skinny white sailor,
    Dm
The chances were slender,
    F                    Dm
The beauties were brief.
        F
Shall I mourn your decline,
          Dm
With some thunderbird wine,
            F            Dm
And a black hankercheif?
            F
I miss your sad;
         Bb
Virginia whisper.
           G7
I miss the voice;
               C      C+
That called my heart.

Bb     Am   Dm
 Sweet Gene Vincent,
Bb         Am      Gm
 Young and old and gone,
C      A7   Dm
 Sweet Gene Vincent.

(n.C)
 Who, who,
Who slapped John?

Interlude:

(Faster Tempo):

G, D, G

Break:

G (n.C)
 White face,
Black shirt,
White socks,
Black shoes,
Black hair,
White strat,
Bled white,
Died black.

Verse 1:

G      C    G
 Sweet Gene Vincent,
        C
Let the blue cats,
        G      D
Roll to-night;
       G        C
At the sock hop ball,
       G     C
In the union hall,
          G
Where the bop is,
D         G
 Their de-light.

Verse 2:

          G           C
Here come duck-tailed Danny,
         G
Dragging Uncanny Annie,
          C
She's the one with,
           G     D
The flying feet.
        G         C
You can break the peace,
      G      C
Daddy sickle grease,
    G       D        G
The beat is reet com-plete.

Bridge 1:

        C 
And you jump back honey,
In the dungerees,
      G
Tight sweater and,
       G7
A pony tail;
         C
Will you guess her age,
When she comes back stage?
    A7
The hoodlums bite,
      D7     C#7
Their nails.

Solo:

C, G  G7
C  D7  G

Break:

G (n.C)
 Black gloves,
White frost,
Black crepe,
White lead,
White sheet,
Black knight,
Jet black,
Dead white.

Verse 3:

G      C    G
 Sweet Gene Vincent,
        C            G    D
There's one in every town,
        G     C
And the devil drives,
          G         C
'Till the hearse ar-rives,
        G        D      G
And you lay that pistol down.

Verse 4:

G      C    G
 Sweet Gene Vincent,
        C
There's nowhere,
        G     D
Left to hide.
     G    C
With lazy skin,
    G        C
And ash-tray eyes,
  G     D     G
A perfo-rated pride.

Solo:

D  C (x2)

Verse 5:

               G     C
So farewell ma-demoi-selle,
        G
Knicker-bocker hotel,
     C             G     D
Fare-well to money owed.
              G         C
But when your leg still hurts,
        G         C
And you need more shirts,
           G        D      G
You got to get back on the road.


CHORD DIAGRAMS:
---------------

   F       Dm      Bb      G7      C       C+      Bb      Am

 EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE
 133211  xx0231  x13331  323000  x32010  x32110  x13331  x02210

   Gm      A7      G       D       D7      C#7

 EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE  EADGBE
 355333  x02223  320003  xx0232  xx0212  x46464


Tabbed by Joel from cLuMsY, Bristol, England, 2006
(clumsyband@hotmail.com)