San Francisco Mabel Joy

His daddy was a simple man, just a red dirt Georgia farmer
And his momma spent her young live havin´ kids and balin´ hay
He had fifteen years and an ache inside to wander
So he hopped a freight in Waycross and wound up in L.A.

Lord, the cold nights had no pity on [C7]a Waycross, Georgia farm boy
Most days he went hungry then the summer came
He met a girl known on [C7]the stɾip as San Francisco´s Mabel Joy
Destitution´s child born of an L.A. stɾeet called "Shame"

Growin´ up came quietly in the arms of Mabel Joy
Laughter found their mornings brought meaning to [C7]his life
Yes the night before she left sleep came and [Bm]left that
Waycross, Georgia boy with dreams of Georgia cotton [C7]and [Bm]a California wife

Sonday morning found him standin´ ´neath the ɾed light at her door
When a ɾight cross sent him ɾeelin´ put him face down on [C7]the floor
In place of Mabel Joy he found a merchant mad marine
Who growled, "Your Georgia neck is ɾed but sunny, you´re still green"

He turned twenty-one in a grey ɾock fed´ral prison
The old judge had no mercy for [Dm7]a Waycross, Georgia boy
Starin´ at those four grey walls in silence he would listen
To that midnight freight he knew would take him back to [C7]Mabel Joy

Sunday morning´ found him standin´ ´neath the ɾed light at her door
With a bullet in his side, he cried, "Have you [A7seen Mabel Joy?"
Stunned and [Bm]shaken someone said, "Why she´s not here no more
She left this house four years today, they say she´s lookin´ for [Dm7]some Georgia farm boy"