The Kid From Spavinaw

	  		


Intro: C 

verse 1 
                  F 
I was born in Oklahoma 
                C 
Nineteen thirty-one 
                    F 
Outside the town of Spavinaw 
                              C     F 
Where the red dust clouds the sun 
                       G 
And I ran beneath your diamond skies 
      C                   F  
And I drank your waves of grain 
     Em           Am 
My name is Mickey Mantle, boys 
    Bb             G 
And baseball is my game 


verse 2 
   C                  F 
My father's name was 'Mutt', boy 
                           C 
And he worked down in the mines 
                        F 
He pitched to me in the evening 
                    C       F 
At least a thousand times 
                  G 
A thousand times again 
      C                F  
In my nightmare and my dreams 
             Em                     Am 
You're gonna live in the house that Ruth built, kid 
             Bb               G 
You're gonna make that Yankee team 


verse 3 
      C                 F 
Sure enough, the Yankee scout comes driving 
                  C 
Right down Route 66 
                        F 
He'd have never come to Spavinaw  
                    C  
Class D ball in the sticks 
      F                            G 
But I happened to be playing in an old wood ballpark 
        C             F  
Way out on the Mother Road 
     Em              Am 
That Yankee scout he signed me  
      Bb             G 
And I went up to the show 


verse 4 
       C               F 
Strike 1, that was the drinking 
                       C 
Strike 2, there go the knees 
                        F 
Then my old man died in Denver 
                    C 
Some type of lung disease 
     F                   G 
When god starts throwing changeups 
          C                  F   
You can't swing with fame or wealth 
       Em                  Am 
If I'd known I's gonna live this long 
    Bb              G 
I'd taken care of myself 


Instrumental 
G  C  F    C    F    C 


Verse 5 
                           F 
I don't miss the lights of Times Square 
                           C 
I don't miss Toots Shore's bar 
                           F 
I miss my old man pitching baseball 
                         C  
Near the shed in our backyard 
  F                 G 
I wish that he were still around 
             C              F 
To see these trophies on my shelf 
         Em                       Am 
If I'd a-known I was going to live this long 
    Bb                     G 
I'd taken better care of myself 


Outro: 
      C           F 
I was born in Oklahoma 
                C 
Nineteen thirty-one 
                    F 
Outside the town of Spavinaw 
                              C  
Where the red dust clouds the sun