Chords used:
       E-A-D-G-B-E
Csus4  x-3-3-0-1-x
 
G/B    x-2-0-0-0(3)
C/G    3-x-2-0-1-0
F/G    3-x-3-2-1-1
[Intro]
          Csus4
  C             C
  1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +  
e|----------------|
B|1-1-1-1---1-1-1-|
G|0-0-0-0---0-0-0-|
D|2-2-2-2---3-3-2-|
A|3-3-3-3---3-3-3-|
E|----------------|
| C   Csus4 | C   Csus4 | C   Csus4 | C |
[Verse]
        C            Am 
Oh, the ragman draws circles 
C               Am 
Up and down the block 
    C                Am 
I’d ask him what the matter was 
      F                  G (7) 
But I know that he don’t talk 
        F               C 
And the ladies treat me kindly 
          Am              C 
And they furnish me with tape 
    Am             C 
But deep inside my heart 
  F              C 
I know I can’t escape 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F/G            C 
With the Memphis blues again?  [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo] 
[Verse]
      C                        Am 
Well, Shakespeare, he’s in the alley 
         C                     Am 
With his pointed shoes and his bells 
C                 Am 
 Speaking to some French girl 
    F                 G 
Who says she knows me well 
    F              C 
And I would send a message 
    Am               C 
To find out if she’s talked 
        Am                   C 
But the post office has been stolen 
        F          C 
And the mailbox is locked 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F       F/G    C 
With the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
C              Am 
Mona tried to tell me 
   C                        Am 
To stay away from the train line 
    C                 Am 
She said that all the railroad men 
           F                  G 
Just drink up your blood like wine 
      F                   C 
An’ I said, “Oh, I didn’t know that 
           Am                         C 
But then again, there’s only one I’ve met 
    Am                C 
An’ he just smoked my eyelids 
    F              C 
An’ punched my cigarette” 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F       F/G    C 
with the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
C                 Am 
Grandpa died last week 
             C             Am 
And now he’s buried in the rocks 
    C               Am 
But everybody still talks about 
    F               G 
How badly they were shocked 
    F                    C 
But me, I expected it to happen 
  Am                C 
I knew he’d lost control 
        Am              C 
When he built a fire on Main Street  
    F               C 
And shot it full of holes 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F       F/G    C 
with the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
        C       Am 
Now the senator came down here 
C                    Am 
Showing ev’ryone his gun 
C                 Am 
 Handing out free tickets 
       F              G 
To the wedding of his son 
    F                C 
An’ me, I nearly got busted 
    Am                C 
An’ wouldn’t it be my luck 
       Am               C 
To get caught without a ticket 
          F                 C 
And be discovered beneath a truck 
Em 
Oh Mama, is this really the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F       F/G    C 
with the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
        C                  Am 
Now the preacher looked so baffled 
       C                Am 
When I asked him why he dressed 
     C                Am 
With twenty pounds of headlines 
F              G 
Stapled to his chest 
       F                C 
But he cursed me when I proved to him 
       Am                           C 
Then I whispered, “Not even you can hide 
    Am                    C 
You see, you’re just like me 
  F                C 
I hope you’re satisfied” 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F       F/G    C 
with the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
        C               Am 
Now the rainman gave me two cures 
        C                 Am 
Then he said, “Jump right in” 
    C               Am 
The one was Texas medicine 
    F                       G 
The other was just railroad gin 
    F             C 
An’ like a fool I mixed them 
       Am              C 
An’ it strangled up my mind 
        Am              C 
An’ now people just get uglier 
      F                C 
An’ I have no sense of time 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F/G            C 
with the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
     C                Am 
When Ruthie says come see her 
       C            Am 
In her honky-tonk lagoon 
            C                   Am 
Where I can watch her waltz for free 
           F           G 
’Neath her  Panamanian moon 
     F              C 
An’ I say, “Aw come on now 
    Am                         C 
You know you know about my debutante” 
                    Am                            C 
An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need 
    F               C 
But I know what you want” 
Em 
Oh Mama, can this really be the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F/G            C 
with the Memphis blues again?   [bass: C, Bb, G, F, E, C = E, D,  B, A, G#, E without capo]
[Verse]
        C             Am 
Now the bricks lay on Grand Street 
          C           Am 
Where the neon madmen climb 
     C                 Am 
They all fall there so perfectly 
   F                 G 
It all seems so well timed 
    F             C 
An’ here I sit so patiently 
Am                       C 
Waiting to find out what price 
    Am                 C 
You have to pay to get out of 
      F                        C 
Going through all these things twice 
Em 
Oh Mama, is this really the end? 
      C       G/B     Am 
To be stuck inside of Mobile, 
C/G      F/G            [ C ] 
with the Memphis blues again? 
[Outro]
| C | % | % | % |
| C G/B | Am C/G | F/G F/G | C
  [last three bars: break on every chord]