Blue Wing
Tom Russell BandVersion1
90
Chords in this song
Strum
D-DU-UDU
He had a Blue Wing tattooed on his shoulder. Well it might have been a
blue bird I don't know.
But he'd get stone drunk and talk about Alaska. Salmon boats and forty-
five below
He said he got that Blue Wing up in Walla Walla. Where his cellmate there
was a little Willy John
Willy he was once a great blues singer. And Wing and Willy wrote him up a
song:
He said its dark in here
can't see the sky. But I look at this Blue Wing
and I close my eyes
Then I fly away, beyond these walls
Up above the clouds, where the rain
dont fall
On a poor mans dreams
(yaa, On a poor mans dreams, yaa)
Well they paroled Blue Wing in August, 1963
And he moved on pickin apples to the town of Wenatchee.
Winter finally caught him in a run down trailer park,
On the south side of Seattle where the days grow gray and dark
And he drank and he dreamt a vision of when the salmon still swam free
And his fathers fathers crossed that wide old Bering Sea.
And the land belonged to everyone, and there were old songs left to sing.
Now its narrowed down to a cheap hotel and a tattooed prison wing.
Well he drank his way to L.A. and thats where he died. But no one knew his Christian name
And there was no one there to cry. But I dreamt there was a service.
A preacher and an old pine box.
And halfway through the sermon you know Blue Wing began to talk
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Readable chord sheet for Blue Wing by Tom Russell Band
[C]He had a Blue Wing tattooed on his shoulder. Well it might have been a blue bird I don't [Dm]know. [G]But he'd get stone drunk and talk about Alaska. Salmon boats and forty- five b[C]elow [C]He said he got that Blue Wing up in Walla Walla. Where his cellmate there was a little W[Dm]illy John [Dm]Willy he was once a great blues singer. And W[G]ing and Willy wrote him up a s[C]ong: [C]He said its dark in here [F] [C] can't see the sky. But I look at this Blue Wing and I cl[G]ose my eyes [C]Then I fly away, beyond these[F] walls Up above the [C]clouds, where the rain dont[G] fall On a poor man[Am]s dreams (y[G]aa, On a poor m[Am]ans dreams, y[G]aa) [C]Well they paroled Blue Wing in August, 1963 [C]And he moved on pickin apples to the town of W[Dm]enatchee. [Dm]Winter finally caught him in a run down trailer park, [Dm]On the sou[G]th side of Seattle where the d[C]ays grow gray and dark [C]And he drank and he dreamt a vision of when the salmon still swam free [C]And his fathers fathers crossed that w[Dm]ide old Bering Sea. [Dm]And the land belonged to everyone, and there were old songs left to sing. [Dm]Now its nar[G]rowed down to a cheap hotel and a tatt[C]ooed prison wing. [C]Well he drank his way to L.A. and thats where he died. But no one knew his Christian name [C]And there was no one there to [Dm]cry. But I dreamt there was a service. A[Dm] preacher and an old pine box. [Dm]And hal[G]fway through the sermon you know Blue[C] Wing began to talk