E---------------------------------------------| B---------------------------------------------| G---------------------------------------------| D---2---2/4-4---4/6-6---6------x2-------------| A---------------------------------------------| E-0---0-------0-------0---0-------------------| E----------------------------------0-----------| B--------------------------0-----0-------------| G-------------------1----------2---------------| D---7---7\6-6--4--2------4---4-----------------| A----------------------------------------------| E-0---0-------0--0-----2-----------------------| E----------------------------------------------| B----------------------------0-------0---------| G------------------------1-------1-------------| D----/6-6-4-4-2-----2------2-------2---etc-----| A---------------2/4------------2---------------| E---------------------0------------------------| E A5 E Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times E A5 E She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9* Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind E A5 E And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind E A5 E I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand E A5 E They say working's best 'cause poverty is hell on a man A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9* Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan E A5 E And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned *2 E A5 E I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain E A5 E She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9* When the boiler blew some people started naming names E A5 E But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame E A5 E I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown E A5 E A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9* But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down E A5 E They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found *2, repeat intro E A5 E Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst E A5 E I don't spend time listening to other people's words A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9* Sometimes they're right most times the reverse E A5 E They say the best is for the best when the best is for the worse E A5 E Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times E A5 E She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9* Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind E A5 E And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind E A5 E Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times E A5 E Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times Chords: A5 A/G# A/F# F#sus2add9 (?) :) E--------------------0-------| B--------------------0-------| G--2---2-----2-------2-------| D--2---2-----2-------4-------| A--0---x-----x-------x-------| E------4-----2-------2-------| Run "*" follows the descending bassline of the 3rd line of each stanza (it's also part of the intro picking) E---------------0--------------------| B-------0-----0----------------------| G-----------2------------------------| D-----4---4--------------------------| A------------------------------------| E---2--------------------------------| Run *2 is an interlude between the 1st and 2nd and between the 3rd and 4th stanzas. E----------------------------0-------------------------| B-------0-----0--------0---0--------0-----0--------0---| G-----------2---------------------------2------1-------| back to D-----4---4----------6---6--------4---4----------2-----| E... (etc) A------------------------------------------------------| E---2--------------4------------2------------0---------|