The Body Of An American lyrics and chords
The Body Of An American The Pogues Lyrics And Guitar Chords. Written By Shane MacGowan. The tin whistle sheet music notes are included. This is a fairly long song with lots of notes to learn, it's best to break the song down into sections and learn it piece by piece.
The piano sheet music with chords and bass is in the ebook here .
The piano sheet music with chords and bass is in the ebook here .
[C]The cadillac stood [F]by the house
And the [C]yanks they were within
And the tinker boys they[F] hissed advice
'Hot-[C]wire her with a [G]pin'
Then we[C] turned and shook as we [F]had a look
In the [C]room where the dead men[G] lay
So [C]big Jim Dwyer made [F]his last [C]trip
To the home where his [F]father's [C]laid
But [C]fifteen minutes later
We had [F]our first taste of [C]whiskey
There was uncles giving lectures
On [F]ancient Irish [G]history
The[F] men all started telling jokes
And the [C]women they got [G]frisky
At [C]five o'clock in the evening
Every [F]bastard there was[G] piskey
Fare thee well going away
There's nothing left to say
Farewell to New York City boys
To Boston and PA
He took them out
With a well-aimed clout
He was often heard to say
I'm a free born man of the USA
He fought the champ in Pittsburgh
And he slashed him to the ground
He took on Tiny Tartanella
And it only went one round
He never had no time for reds
For drink or dice or whores
And he never threw a fight
Unless the fight was right
So they sent him to the war
Fare the well gone away
There's nothing left to say
With a slainte Joe and Erin go
My love's in Amerikay
The calling of the rosary
Spanish wine from far away
I'm a free born man of the USA
This morning on the harbour
When I said goodbye to you
I remember how I swore
That I'd come back to you one day
And as the sunset came to meet
The evening on the hill
I told you I'd always love you
I always did and I always will
Fare thee well gone away
There's nothing left to say
'cept to say adieu
To your eyes as blue
As the water in the bay
And to big Jim Dwyer
The man of wire
Who was often heard to say
I'm a free born man of the USA
Here's the guitar chords for the key of G.
[G]The cadillac stood [C]by the house
And the [G]yanks they were within
And the tinker boys they[C] hissed advice
'Hot-[G]wire her with a [D]pin'
Then we[G] turned and shook as we [C]had a look
In the [G]room where the dead men[D] lay
So [G]big Jim Dwyer made [C]his last [G]trip
To the home where his [C]father's [G]laid
But [G]fifteen minutes later
We had [C]our first taste of [G]whiskey
There was uncles giving lectures
On [C]ancient Irish [D]history
The[C] men all started telling jokes
And the [G]women they got [D]frisky
At [G]five o'clock in the evening
Every [C]bastard there was[D] piskey
[G]The cadillac stood [C]by the house
And the [G]yanks they were within
And the tinker boys they[C] hissed advice
'Hot-[G]wire her with a [D]pin'
Then we[G] turned and shook as we [C]had a look
In the [G]room where the dead men[D] lay
So [G]big Jim Dwyer made [C]his last [G]trip
To the home where his [C]father's [G]laid
But [G]fifteen minutes later
We had [C]our first taste of [G]whiskey
There was uncles giving lectures
On [C]ancient Irish [D]history
The[C] men all started telling jokes
And the [G]women they got [D]frisky
At [G]five o'clock in the evening
Every [C]bastard there was[D] piskey
**The Body Of An American Guitar Fingerpicking Tab**
*The Pogues*
**Key:** D | **Tempo:** ♩=170
**Capo 2 → Play in C shapes** (optional for easier open chords)
**Strumming (3/4):** `D D U U D U` *(light, waltz swing)*
**Strumming (2/4):** `↓ ↓ ↑ ↓` *(jig bounce)*
**Fingerpicking (3/4):** `P I M A M I` *(thumb bass, fingers roll)*
**Fingerpicking (2/4):** `P I M A` *(fast roll)*
---
VERSE 1 – 3/4
| D | D | D |
The Cad-il- lac stood by the house and the
D| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
F|---------------0-|---------------0-|---------------0-|
A|---0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|
D|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
| F | D | D |
Yanks they were with-in And the
F| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
A|---3-------3-----|---0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|
D|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
| A | A | A |
tin-ker boys they hissed ad-vice hot-wire her
A| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
D|---2-------2-----|---2-------2-----|---2-------2-----|
A|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
| Bm | D | A |
with a pin When we turned and shook as we
Bm| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
D|---4-------4-----|---0-------0-----|---2-------2-----|
A|-2---2---2---2---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
| A | A | D |
had a look In the room where the dead men lay
A| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
D|---2-------2-----|---2-------2-----|---0-------0-----|
A|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
| D | D | D |
So big Jim Dwyer made his last trip
D| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
F|---------------0-|---------------0-|---------------0-|
A|---0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|
D|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
| F | D | D |
To the shores where his fa-ther's laid
F| ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ | ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ |
A|---3-------3-----|---0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|
D|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
P I M A M I P I M A M I P I M A M I
text---
VERSE 2 – 2/4 (switch to jig)
| D | D | G |
Will fif-teen min-utes la-ter we had
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|---2---2-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| D | D | A |
our first taste of whis-key There was
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-2---2---2-2-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| A | A | D |
un-cles giv-ing lec-tures on an-cient
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
D|---2---2-----|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|
A|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| D | G | D |
Ir-ish his-to-ry The men all start-ed
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---0---0-----|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| G | D | D |
tell-ing jokes and the wom-en they got
G| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| D | G | D |
fris-ky At five o' clock in the even-ing
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---0---0-----|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| C | D | E |
ev-'ry bast-ard there was piss-key Fare thee
C| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---3---3-----|---0---0-----|---2---2-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
text---
CHORUS – 2/4
| E | A | D |
well goin' a-way there's noth-ing left to
E| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-2---2---2-2-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| A | D | A |
say Fare-well to New York Ci-ty boys
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
D|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|---2---2-----|
A|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| A | D | G |
to Bos-ton and P-A He took them out
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
D|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|
A|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-2---2---2-2-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| A | D | D |
with a well-aimed clout and they oft-en heard him
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
D|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|
A|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
| G | D | D |
say I'm a free born man of the
G| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
A|---2---2-----|---0---0-----|---0---0-----|
D|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|-0---0---0-0-|
P I M A P I M A P I M A
text---
INSTRUMENTAL BREAK – 2/4 (repeat 2x)
| D | G | D |
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| A | D | G |
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| A | D | D |
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
text---
VERSE 3 – 2/4 (same as Verse 2)
| D | D | G |
In the bar we had a sing-song and a
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| D | D | A |
few more jars of whis-key There was
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| A | A | D |
fight-ing in the cor-ner and the
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| D | G | D |
po-lice they were called in
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| G | D | D |
But the party kept on go-ing till the
G| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| D | G | D |
early hours of morn-ing
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| C | D | E |
Then we said good-bye to the
C| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
text---
FINAL CHORUS – 2/4
| E | A | D |
well goin' a-way there's noth-ing left to
E| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| A | D | A |
say Fare-well to New York Ci-ty boys
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| A | D | G |
to Bos-ton and P-A He took them out
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| A | D | D |
with a well-aimed clout and they oft-en heard him
A| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| G | D | D |
say I'm a free born man of the
G| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
text---
OUTRO – 2/4 (slow & big)
| D | G | D |
U S A I'm a free born man
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| D | G | D |
of the U S A
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
| D | D | D |
D| ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ | ↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ |
(let ring)
text---
**Capo 2 Version (C shapes):**
- D → C
- F → Dm
- A → G
- Bm → Am
- G → F
- E → D
- C → Bb
**Mobile Tip:**
- Scroll **horizontally** if tab overflows
- Use **landscape mode** for full view
- Strum **lightly** — let the **bass ring**, **treble sparkle**
The Body Of An American The Pogues Sheet Music And Tin Whistle Notes
Below is the list of sheet music and tin whistle songs that are in my ebooks. This is the largest collection of tin whistle songs ever put together.[over 800 songs ] Including folk, pop and trad tunes plus German And French songs along with Christmas Carols.
All of the sheet music tabs have been made as easy to play as was possible.
The price of the ebooks is €7.50
All of the sheet music tabs have been made as easy to play as was possible.
The price of the ebooks is €7.50
