Rose Tattoo

	  		



Intro: F  E  Am 

verse 1 
                               F 
The sun's gonna rise and in my cold green eyes  
       E7 
Is the hell that I’ve been through 
Am                                   F 
What I learned tonight, is that this world ain’t right  
        E7                    Am   F  E7  Am    F  E7  Am 
And the devil’s got a rose tattoo 


verse 2 
                      F 
Eight-fifty-one, we arrived at the club  
      E7                   Am 
I was wearing my last good dress 
                    F 
My man had bet everything he could get  
          E7                          Am 
And I was trying to get us out of the mess 
                  F 
At nine o’clock I made my walk  
       E7             Am 
Like a tigress to the stage 
                                      F 
And the people would stand like I was worth ten grand  
        E7                  Am 
And not singing for minimum wage 


verse 3 
                          F 
Ten minutes in, they were passing the gin  
        E7            Am 
And the club became a roar 
                              F 
My man was having a ball, but all I recall  
       E7                             Am 
Is his face when he looked toward the door 
                           F 
I was going to town when a hush came down 
    E7                     Am 
The dance floor became a tomb 
                            F 
A woman stepped in, she was small and slim  
        E7                             Am 
But her presence filled the whole damn room 


verse 4 
                        F 
My man went pale like a torn up sail 
       E7                      Am 
As the woman walked right past me 
                          F 
Her dress was grey like a stormy day 
       E7                     Am 
And it flowed like a restless sea 
                             F 
I went flat on a note, I was watching her throat  
           E7               Am 
She wore a necklace of pure jade 
                                 F 
And her sleeve hung down off one side of her gown  
          E7                     Am 
To show a rose down her shoulder blade 


Bridge 
       F 
I lost sight of her and the rest was a blur  
     Am 
As I sang and paced the stage 
 F 
Eleven-o'-one, I was finally done  
      E7 
And I sprung like a cat from a cage 
       F 
He was gone from there, so I searched everywhere  
       Am 
Till I found a girl I knew 
              D                       F 
She said, "He left your show about an hour ago  
       E7                   Am   F  E7  Am    F  E7  Am 
With a woman with a rose tattoo" 


Verse 5 
                               F 
I walked the street till I was dead on my feet 
      E7                Am 
And I hit every joint I knew 
                               F 
I heard a man say, "I saw that woman in grey  
            E7              Am 
I think her name is Penny LaRue" 
                     F 
Where she’s been and what’s her sin 
E7                    Am 
No one in New Orleans knows 
                               F 
All they can tell, is she’s an angel from hell  
       E7          Am 
With a tattoo of a rose 


Verse 6 
                     F 
I said a prayer, let down my hair  
      E7                     Am 
I was now in the bad part of town 
                 F 
It was 3am and I followed some men  
     E7                      Am 
To a club called the Underground 
                          F 
I stepped inside, I could feel the vibe  
          E7              Am 
There was danger in the room 
                       F 
And a whole lotta sin, sweat and skin  
        E7                Am 
And the smell of cheap perfume 


Verse 7 
                                    F 
But through the lusty display was a woman in grey  
E7                    Am 
Smiling like she knew 
                                  F 
When she turned around, where her dress hung down  
      E7                      Am 
Was a shoulder with a rose tattoo 
                       F 
I saw the love she’d deprived me of 
       E7                        Am 
He was standing in that restless throng 
                  F 
When suddenly, he noticed me  
    E7                        Am 
But something just a-felt all wrong 


Bridge 
F 
I heard a shout, a knife came out 
   Am 
My man got in the way 
       F 
He was dead as a door before he hit the floor  
          E7 
While the band continued to play 
  F 
I tried to scream, but like a horrible dream  
          Am                  D 
There was nothing I could do 
          F 
Time died, a siren cried 
        E7                 Am   F  E7  Am    F  E7  Am 
I saw a flash of a rose tattoo 


Verse 8 
                       F 
I’m on the curb with a cop named Herb  
   E7                   Am 
Trying to sort out this mess 
                              F 
It’s five-twenty-five, I feel barely alive  
        E7                   Am 
And I’m wearing my last good dress 
                               F 
The sun’s gonna rise and in my cold green eyes 
       E7             Am 
Is the hell I’ve been through 
                                     F 
What I learned tonight, is that this world ain’t right  
        E7                    F   E7  Am 
And the devil’s got a rose tattoo