PHILADELPHIA LAWYER (aka RENO BLUES)
(Woody Guthrie - 1937)

Tennessee Ernie Ford
Rose Maddox & The Maddox Brothers - 1940


Way out in Reno Nevada
Where romance blooms and fades
A great Philadelphia Lawyer
Was in love with a Hollywood maid.

Come, Love, and we will wander
Out where the lights are bright
I'll win you a divorce from your husband
And we can get married tonight.

Now, Bill was a gun-totin' cowboy
Ten notches were carved on his gun
All the boys around Reno
Left wild Bill's maiden alone.

One night when he was returning
From riding the range in the cold
He dreamed of his Hollywood sweetheart
Her love was as lasting as gold.

As he drew near her window
A shadow he saw on the shade
Was the great Philadelphia Lawyer
Makin' love to his Hollywood maid.

The night was as still as the desert
The moon was bright overhead
Bill listened awhile to the lawyer
He could hear ev'ry word that he said.

"Your hands are so pretty and lovely
Your form so rare and divine -
Come, go with me to the city
And leave this wild cowboy behind."

Now back in old Pennsylvania
Among those beautiful pines
There's one less Philadelphia Lawyer
In old Philadelphia tonight.

TAG:

There's one less Philadelphia Lawyer
In old Philadelphia tonight.