John Doe No. 24

---------------------------------------

This song is in the key of E, but Mary Chapin plays it in G with a

capo at the 9th fret, in open D tuning (DADF#AD). But the highest

string is never used, so you don't have to tune that one down; since

high E's often break, you may as well tune to DADF#AE.

The guitar part repeats one pattern through the entire song, with some

slight variations. This tablature is for the first four measures of

the song, and it shows two ways to play the end of the pattern; through

most of the song, she uses the second way, especially while she's

singing. (Note that the "131" in the tab is a hammer-on followed by a

pull-off, and the "13" is a hammer-on from 1 to 3, not thirteen!)

D ----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

A ------0---------|----------------|------0---------|----------------|

F# 1-------1-----1-|------1-131---0-|1-------1-----1-|------1-13----0-|

D ----0-------0---|----0-------0---|----0-------0---|----0-------0---|

A --2-------3-----|--3-------------|--2-------3-----|--3-------0-----|

D 0-------2-------|0-------0-------|0-------2-------|0-------0-------|

^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .

MCC doesn't use her thumb to fret the low E (she uses her middle finger),

but you can use your thumb if it's easier that way. Notice that I didn't

put chord names; that's because they don't really matter. I guess you

could say the chords are: G(9), C(9)/E, Gsus4/D, D(4).

LYRICS (each line is two measures):

I was standing on the sidewalk in 1945

In Jacksonville, Illinois

When asked what my name was there came no reply

They said I was a deaf and sightless half-wit boy

But Louis was my name, though I could not say it

I was born and raised in New Orleans

My spirit was wild, so I let the river take it

On a barge and a prayer upstream

Well they searched for a mother and they searched for a father

And they searched till they searched no more

The doctors put to rest their scientific tests

And they named me "John Doe No. 24"

And they all shook their heads in pity

For a world so silent and dark

Well there's no doubt that life's a mystery

But so too is the human heart

And it was my heart's own perfume when the crepe jasmine bloomed

On St. Charles Avenue

Though I couldn't hear the bells of the streetcars coming

By toeing the track I knew

And if I were an old man returning

With my satchel and porkpie hat

I'd hit every jazz joint on Bourbon

And I'd hit everyone on Basin after that

The years kept passing as they passed me around