Standard (EADGBE)

Now my grandfather was a sailor, he blew in off the water

My father was a farmer and I, his only daughter,

took up with a no-good millworking man from Massachusetts

 who dies from too much whiskey and leaves me these three faces to feed

Mill-work ain't easy; mill-work ain't hard

Mill-work, it ain't nothing but an awful boring job

 I'm waiting for a day dream to take me through the morning

 and put me in my coffee break where I can have a sandwich and remember

  (addD) /

Then it's me and my machine for the rest of the morning

 for the rest of the afternoon

 and the rest of my life

Now my mind begins to wander to the days back on the farm

I can see my father smiling at me, swingin' on his arm

I can hear my grand-dad's stories of the storms out on Lake Erie

where vessels and cargos and fortunes and sailor's lives were lost

Yes, but it's my life has been wasted, and I have been the fool

to let this manufacture use my body for a tool.

I can ride home in the evening, staring at my hands

swearing by my sorrow that a young girl ought to stand a better chance

  (addD) /

So may I work the mills just as long as I am able

 and never meet the man whose name is on the label

  (addD) /

It be me and my machine for the rest of the morning

 for the rest of the afternoon

 and the rest of my life

/: x2x03x

/: x1x03x