Max Stalling

The Pila Song

Max Stalling


Tom: Em

Am
The wind was hot and the sun was hard
C
I was beat and my mare was tired
G                                         Am
and the fence line i was riding stretched forever
Am
My mind drifted off and back
C
to Carmella and her heart of black
G                                    Am
and the things that she’d said to me yesterday
Am
So when the boss sent me out checking fences
C
I was glad cause I knew that it meant
G                                   Am
that I could spend some time out all alone

[Verse 2]
Am
I wiped the sweat that stung my eyes
C
looked up and I realized
G                                Am
that I was coming up on the south windmill
Am
The concrete tank stood there beside
C
the water trough that it supplied
G                                             Am
when the trough was full the mill could keep on
Am
pumping, pumping, pumping and thumping
C
So we drank deep from the shallow trough
Am
and wetting my hair gave me a thought
G                                          Am
that a swim in that big tank might cool me down

[Verse 3]
Bm
So I shucked my duds and hung ‘em on the fence
D
climbed the wires to reach the rim
A                                  Bm
pulled myself on up and jumped right in
Bm
the water was cool down underneath
D
but deeper than I thought it’d be
A                                               Bm
there was no ladder and the walls were slick with moss
Bm
Sure enough I got cooled down
D
when I found I had no way out
A                                                 Bm
and the thought of a rat in a feed bin chilled my blood

[Verse 4]
Bm
Well, at first I laughed at the fix I was in
D
then my troubles all sank in
A                                Bm
without some help I was there to stay
Bm
I screamed and clawed to no avail
D
till dignity and voice had failed
A                                     Bm
I wore my fingers down on those damned walls
Bm
I marked the time with the windmill’s shade
D
passing cross my mossy grave
A                                   Bm
and the cows coming to water twice a day

[Verse 5]
C#m
I always figured lightning strike
E
or rattlesnake or barroom fight
B                                C#m
would do me in, not some mexican rose
C#m
The fact is I was hot and dumb
E
Struck stupid by the sun and love
B                                      C#m
so on one hand I guess she’d played her part
C#m
though all that time I cussed her lots
E
but I cussed myself the most because
B                        C#m
I had not looked before I leapt

[Verse 6]
C#m
Now overhead an eagle soars
E
and I smell rain coming from the North
B                                C#m
I wonder if she’ll even shed one tear
C#m      B         C#m
Just one tear over me
c#m      E         B        C#m
Just one tear over me, over me