[Intro]
(Dm/A) x4
[Verse]
Dm/A G/D
There's a place your mother goes, when everybody else is soundly sleeping
Dm
Through the lights of Beacon Street
G
And if you listen you can hear her weeping
A
She's weeping
[Chorus]
Bb
Because the gentlemen are calling
F
And the snow is softly falling on her petticoats
Bb
And she's standing in the harbor
F
And she's waiting for the sailors in the jolly boat.
A
See how they approach
[Verse]
Dm/A G/D
With dirty hands and trousers torn they grapple 'til she's safe within their keeping
Dm
A gag is placed between her lips to keep her sorry tongue from
G A
Any speaking, or screaming
[Chorus]
Bb
And they row her out to packets where the sailor's sorry racket
F
Calls for maidenhead
Bb
And she's scarce above the gunwales when her clothes fall to a
F A
Bundle and she's laid in bed on the upper deck
[Interlude]
Gm A Gm A
La la la la laa,la la la laa,
[Verse]
Dm/A G/D
And so she goes from ship to ship, her ankles clasped, her arms so rudely pinioned
Dm G
'Til at last she's satisfied the lot of the marina's teeming minions
A
In their opinions
[Chorus]
Bb
And they tell her not to say a thing to cousin, kindred, kith or
F
Kin or she'll end up dead
Bb
And they throw her thirty dollars and return her to the harbor
F A
Where she goes to bed, and this is how you're fed
[Outro]
Gm A
So be kind to your mother, though she may seem an awful bother
Gm A
And the next time she tries to feed you collard greens
Gm A A Dm
Remember what she does when you're asleep