James Taylor - Millworker

[Intro]
D C/D D

[Verse 1]
D A G D
Now my grandfather was a sailor, he blew in off the water
D A G A
My father was a farmer and I, his only daughter,
D A G D
took up with a no-good millworking man from Massachusetts
D A G A. D
who dies from too much whiskey and leaves me these three faces to feed

[Interlude]
D G A

[Verse 2]
D A G A
Mill-work ain’t easy; mill-work ain’t hard
D A G A
Mill-work, it ain’t nothing but an goddman awful boring job
D A G A
I’m waiting for a day dream to take me through the morning
D A G A D
and put me in my coffee break where I can have a sandwich and remember

[Chorus 1]
C G
Then it’s me and my machine for the rest of the morning
A
for the rest of the afternoon
D
and the rest of my life

[Verse 3]
D A G A
Now my mind begins to wander to the days back on the farm
D A G A
I can see my father smiling at me, swingin’ on his arm
D A G A
I can hear my grand-dad’s stories of the storms out on Lake Erie
D A G A D
where vessels and cargos and fortunes and sailor’s lives were lost

[Verse 4]
D A G A
Yes, but it’s my life has been wasted, and I have been the fool
D A G A
to let this manufacturer use my body for a tool
D A G A
I can ride home in the evening, staring at my hands
D A G A D
swearing by my sorrow that a young girl ought to stand a better chance

[Chorus 2]
C G
So may I work the mills just as long as I am able
C A D
and never meet the man whose name is on the label
C G
And it’s me and my machine for the rest of the morning
C A
for the rest of the afternoon
D
and the rest of my life