Pearly Little Red

G C G D D G C G G D G C G C Down in the dark and the doom of the city G D There's a monstrous old gathering hall C G Em And a man there making a windy long speech C D To the lords and ladies all G C G Fifteen thousand, twenty thousand people C D Milling and murmuring there Em D C G "And this ain't the place," says I to myself C D G D "For a fellow that needs the fresh air" G Em G So I asked for directions to get me outside C D And I followed them all for sure Em D C G And I ended up down, ten floors underground C D G D And I never saw an exit door G Em G The first live soul I saw was a policeman C D He was long, he was leaning on a rail Em D C G I says "I'll get to him before he sees me C D And ferries me off to the jail" G Em G So I ease myself up on his starboard quarter C D I says "Excuse me, your honour, for sure Em D C G But if you've got a minute and nothing to do C D G D Could you head me out toward the air?" G Em G Well, he pointed his finger back over me shoulder C D And I peered away through the gloom Em D C G And there, sure enough, was an exit sign C D D7 Bright as the crack of doom G C G Well, I thanked him as nicely as ever I knew Em D And I eased my way toward the door Em D C G But he fell into step with me, right alongside C D G D I could hear his heels on the floor G Em G Well, he smiled like the sharks out off Little Green Island C D He had teeth all over his face Em D C G He says, "You know there's folks'd give an arm and a leg C D Just to get inside this place" G C G "Oh boy!" thinks I, "I've got my foot in it now C D I never should have come to this town" Em D C G And I don't know what I'm doin' here now C D G D But I'm sure I'm doin' it wrong G Em G He says, "There's people travel all over the country C D Just to come and see this thing Em D C G But if I know your type, you'd rather sit around home C D G And listen to Little Red sing" C G "Little Red," I said, "I'll be damned," I said C D "I got a friend by that name back home" Em D C G And he smiles and says, "Look, in this crazy world C D You got to call them like they come" G Em G "And I can tell a Maine man any-damn-where C D I can tell him by his tongue Em D C G And you ain't that far from the exit door C D G D G But you're a damn long way from home" Em G Well, he laughs till the echoes laugh again C D He says "Okay, hold out your paws" Em D C G So I closed my eyes, and I held out my hands C D Like my fingers were breaking the laws G C And there was blueberries, blackberries G D Tumbled into my hand C G Em Rosehips bright with the smell of the night C D From off of the summer land G C He says, "Little sister stayed home on the island G D C She visits us now and again G Em Brings us all she can pick from the hills C D And it sure does taste like home" G C G D D G D G G Well, we stood in the darkness chomping them berries C D Eating them our of our hand Em D C G And my heart went away to the rocks and the bays C D And my friends in that lonesome land G C G He says "Tell me, speaking of our mutual friend C D How that tough little fast picking fool Em D C G Can find his way through the brambles and rocks C D Of a homesick Maine man's soul" G Em G "Ah, but I guess he knows when the days get too long C D And the morning comes too soon Em D C G There's nothing will knock off the edge of your troubles C D G Like picking an old-time tune" C G D G Em G Well, he stowed the empty bag away in his pocket C D Turned on his heel to go Em D C G And he says, "Well, good luck, and if you see Little Red C D G Tell him Pearly says 'Hello'" C G D G