The Best God Damn Band In Wyoming

G Eb G G G G G G D D G The flyer read, “Musicians needed!” G D So young Yone grabbed his silver mouthpiece Em C D G Tracked down a kid who brought a trumpet to Pomona G D C G G Let Yone have it on a free two-year lease G Joy Teraoka née Takeshita G D Went to the tryout, she was only 16 Em C D G With some girlfriends to cheer her on, their club was called the Radelles G D C G G Mom said, “If you keep up with school, Joy, you can sing.” G George Igawa, OG Nisei G D He toured up the coast and even played Japan Em C D G G Before the war, they ripped up the Florida Ballroom D C G G Man, don’t sleep on those Sho-Tokyans Em C D G Under starlight they danced behind barbed wire Em C D G Under the mountain, it meant something to sing Em C D G Stuck between two countries in a fire Em C D G G The best god damn band in Wyoming G Little Tets Bessho rep’d the Kardiacs gang G D The clarinet kid, the “Nisei Artie Shaw,” Em C D G Dropped by rehearsal in a tar paper barrack G D C G G Once he joined up, sister, it was on G They practiced daily, gigged on the weekend G D Stirring up those dusty mess halls Em C D G Teenage bodies unchained from their parents G D C G G Man, them old folks, they really lost it all G The only swing band left in Wyoming G D That got ʼem out some nights until dawn Em C D G War bond drives in Powell, Mormons dancing in Lovell G D C G G A bunch of “Japs” playing jazz at the Thermopolis prom Em C D G Under machine guns they danced behind barbed wire Em C D G At below zero, it meant something to sing Em C D G Angelenos mixing up with farm kids in the choir Em C D G G The best god damn band in Wyoming G G G G G G D D Em C D G G D C G G G George Igawa, he split for Chicago G D With Kimiko in the fall of ’44 Em C D G G He left the band to Tets, Joy went with her family to DC. D C G G As for Yone, he had to join the war G And that’s the story from old Heart Mountain G D And the best band you never did see Em C D G Locked up in prison camps for no fuckin’ reason G D C G But they still found a reason to sing Em C D G The best god damn band in Wyoming Em C D G The best god damn band in Wyoming Em C D G The best god damn band in Wyoming Em C D G The best god damn band in Wyoming