ST. JAMES INFIRMARY

(Em) It was down in a smo(B7)ky (Em) tavern
(Em) In a corner (Am) by the (Em) square
(Em) All the guys stood ar(B7)ound drinkin' (Em) whisky
(Em) And the usual (B7) crowd was (Em) there

On my left stood my pal Joe McKinney
With his eyes all bloodshot red
As he gazed at the crowd round about him
Lookin' sad these words he said.

I went down to St. James Infirmary
And I saw my baby there
She was stretched on a long white table
Looked so pale, so cold, so fair.

Let her go, let her go, God bless her
Let her go wherever she may be
She may search this whole wide country over
She will find not a man like me.

Now you've listened to my story
I'll have one more shot of booze
And if anybody happens to ask you
All I've got are those gambler's blues.

This version came from a book I used to have. I think it might have been Mel Bay, but I'm not sure, called something like "folk blues." It also had a version of Wanderin' Blues that differed from many, CC Rider Blues, Careless Love, a different version of 900 miles, Frankie and Johnny, and a good range of others of which the one I miss most was "Dixieland Band in the Sky"

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 4-Oct-02.