Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town
Mel Tillis, 1969· Songs Well-Known in America · p.275
C F G7 Dm
You've painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair.
C F G7
Ruby, are you contemplating going out somewhere?
Dm G7 Dm
The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is going down.
C F C/E Dm (tacet) C
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.
Dm C
For it wasn't me that started that old crazy Asian war.
Dm F G7
But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore .
Dm G7 Dm
Yes, it's true, that I'm not the man I used to be.
C F C/E Dm (tacet) C
Oh, Ruby, I still need some company.
It's hard to love a man whose legs are bent and paralyzed.
And the wants and the needs of a woman your age, Ruby, I realize.
But it won't be long I heard them say until I'm not around.
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.
(No Chords, drum only)
She's leaving now ‘cause I just heard the slamming of a door.
The way I know I've heard it slam one hundred times before.
Dm
And if I could move, I'd get my gun and put her in the ground.
C F C/E Dm (tacet) C
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.
C F C/E Dm (tacet) (Drum Only)
Oh Ruby, for God's sake turn around.