John Hartford

Howard Hughes Blues

John Hartford


Tom: Am

Intro:
C F E Am F C E Am F C G C

C                                             F
I wanna sing you a song about Vegas town and poor old Howard Hughes
E                      Am           F                  C                                  
Locked up there in his hotel suite trying to find his shoes
          E              Am
Well he’s got so much to lose…
F            C        G          C
Old Howard Hughes and all his blues


C                                   F
His Nurses and his chauffeurs they stand around and sigh
E                  Am             F                C                       
Watch the door and wait on him whatever’s on his mind
             E                Am
And that’s a hell of a lot to do…
   F                C          G       C
To guard old Howard Hughes and all his blues



Chorus:
F
And if he didn’t have a nickel 
F
If he didn’t have a dime
         C                      
He could do whatever he damn well please
         E             Am
He could do it all the time
F                                   C
But success is just a mess of overdue news (?) …
F                 C       G          C
For old Howard Hughes and all his blues


C                                F
He’s always in the papers he’s always on the news
E                         Am                 F                 C
But no one knows whose Hughes are Who (?) Or even what’s the truth 
E                     Am
or who is getting screwed…
          F                C       G         C
and it’s them and you know who and all his blues


C                                              F
Way down yonder on the Vegas strip where the regular people pass
E                     Am
I heard some say he’s not too well
F                     C
I heard he’s sinking fast
              E                           Am
But those are unofficial sources to the news…
      F               C          G         C
About poor old Howard Hughes and all his blues


Chorus:
F
And if he didn’t have a nickel 
F
If he didn’t have a dime
         C                      
He could do whatever he damn well please
         E             Am
He could do it all the time
F                                   C
But success is just a mess of overdue news (?) …
F                 C       G          C
For old Howard Hughes and all his blues


C                                                                    
Now a bunch folks are writtin’ books about him
    F
And some of them are awful long
  E                  Am                   F                          C                  
I didn’t really have that much time so I thought I’d just write this song
E                           Am
Gotta get me in a few licks too…

F                  C        G         C
About old Howard Hughes and all his blues



Chorus:  (X2)
F
And if he didn’t have a nickel 
F
If he didn’t have a dime
         C                      
He could do whatever he damn well please
         E             Am
He could do it all the time
F                                   C
But success is just a mess of overdue news (?) …
F                 C       G          C
For old Howard Hughes and all his blues