E---------------------------------------------|
B---------------------------------------------|
G---------------------------------------------|
D---2---2/4-4---4/6-6---6------x2-------------|
A---------------------------------------------|
E-0---0-------0-------0---0-------------------|

E----------------------------------0-----------|
B--------------------------0-----0-------------|
G-------------------1----------2---------------|
D---7---7\6-6--4--2------4---4-----------------|
A----------------------------------------------|
E-0---0-------0--0-----2-----------------------|


E----------------------------------------------|
B----------------------------0-------0---------|
G------------------------1-------1-------------|
D----/6-6-4-4-2-----2------2-------2---etc-----|
A---------------2/4------------2---------------|
E---------------------0------------------------|


E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
E                          A5        E
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
          A5              A/G#         A/F#      F#sus2add9*
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
            E                             A5      E
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind


E                             A5               E
I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand
E                                         A5         E
They say working's best 'cause poverty is hell on a man
       A5          A/G#              A/F#       F#sus2add9*
Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan
           E                              A5          E
And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned

*2

E                          A5       E
I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain
           E                          A5       E
She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames
           A5             A/G#            A/F#   F#sus2add9*
When the boiler blew some people started naming names
            E                                A5         E
But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame


    E                      A5     E
I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown
    E                          A5      E
A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns
            A5           A/G#           A/F#   F#sus2add9*
But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down
              E                               A5            E
They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found

*2, repeat intro

        E                             A5           E
Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst
   E                                   A5       E
I don't spend time listening to other people's words
  A5               A/G#       A/F#      F#sus2add9*
Sometimes they're right most times the reverse
              E                             A5             E
They say the best is for the best when the best is for the worse


E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
E                          A5        E
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
          A5              A/G#         A/F#      F#sus2add9*
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
            E                             A5      E
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind

E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times

Chords:

  A5  A/G#  A/F#  F#sus2add9 (?)  :)
E--------------------0-------|
B--------------------0-------|
G--2---2-----2-------2-------|
D--2---2-----2-------4-------|
A--0---x-----x-------x-------|
E------4-----2-------2-------|


Run "*" follows the descending bassline of the 3rd line of each stanza
(it's also part of the intro picking)
E---------------0--------------------|
B-------0-----0----------------------|
G-----------2------------------------|
D-----4---4--------------------------|
A------------------------------------|
E---2--------------------------------|


Run *2 is an interlude between the 1st and 2nd and between the 3rd and
4th stanzas.
E----------------------------0-------------------------|
B-------0-----0--------0---0--------0-----0--------0---|
G-----------2---------------------------2------1-------| back to
D-----4---4----------6---6--------4---4----------2-----| E... (etc)
A------------------------------------------------------|
E---2--------------4------------2------------0---------|