Digital Tradition Mirror

The Philadelphia Lawyer

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The Philadelphia Lawyer
(Woody Guthrie)

Way out in Reno, Nevada,
Where romances bloom and fade,
There was a Philadelphia lawyer
Makin' love to a Hollywood maid.

Come love, and we will wander
Out where the lights are so bright.
I'll win you a divorce from your husband,
And we can get married tonight.

Now Bill was a gun-totin' cowboy,
Six notches was carved on his gun;
And all of the boys around Reno
Left Bill's Hollywood darling alone.

One night when Bill was returning
From riding the range in the cold,
He thought of his Hollywood darling ---
Her love was as lasting as gold.

As Bill drew near to her window,
Two shadows he saw on the shade:
It was the great Philadelphia lawyer
Makin' love to Bill's Hollywood maid.

The night was as still as the desert,
The moon hanging high overhead,
Bill listened awhile at the window,
He could hear every word that was said.

"Your face is so pretty and lovely,
Your form so fair and divine!
Come, go back with me to Philadelphia
And leave this wild cowboy behind."

Now way back in old Pennsylvania,
The lights are still shining as bright,
But there's one less Philadelphia lawyer
In old Philadelphia tonight.

Copyright Storm King Music
Recorded by Guthrie and Houston
DC

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!