North to El Prado

Key of E played in C fingering on the 4th fret
Vamp: A(F) - B(G)

          A(F)                                                     B(G)                         A(F)
The first year that I worked out in the country, with the scrublands turned to green
                                       B(G)
            'round Santa Fé

    A(F)                                                           B(G)           A(F)                                         B(G)
A slim and long-haired girl sat down beside me as I drank coffee early in the day

    E(C)                     E/Eb(C/B)      C#m(Am)       C#m/B(Am/G)                              
It took me 'bout a half-hour to pick her up;          
       A(F)                                                     E(C)     B(G)  
             she asked me home in a little more

          E(C)                  E/Eb (C/B)             C#m(Am)     C#m/B(Am/G)
And it wasn't till we got there that she told me
                                          A(F)                                                       B(G)
             she'd had her eye on me for two whole weeks before

        E(C)        E/Eb(C/B)  C#m(Am)             B(G)
But that just made me  laugh, I guess it evened up the score

            A(F)                                                             B(G)
And I came back often through the summer days

                        E(C)        E/Eb(C/B)    C#m(Am)   C#m/B(Am/G)           
          It's an uptown subway     ride,                  
                              F#(D)             B(G)
                     my guitar case at my side
                      E(C)          D(Bb)          B(G)
           But it's springtime south of Colorado
                      E(C)             D(Bb)              C#m(Am)          B(G)                  
           Wishin' I was on the run through the scrublands in the sun
           C#m(Am)                  B(G)                   F#m(Dm)
                           Hitchhiking NORTH TO EL PRADO

She'd drive me 'round the town in her daddy's pickup truck, and we'd go out for
      some ice cream at the drive-in
And her friends laughed at my beard and my broke-in walking boots, and they all
      called out, "Hey, Katie, where'd you find him?"
We'd go out walkin', chasin' rabbits with her dogs, holdin' hands when the sun
     begin to set
Sit talkin' in a storm drain pipe down behind the house so her parents wouldn't see
      her cigarette
When I came back East I missed her more than ever I'd'a' bet
And it pleased me that her letters kept arrivin'.

         It's a long way back down the four-lane track
         To the springtime south of Colorado
         Wishin' I was on my way, drivin' closer every day
         Hitchhiking NORTH TO EL PRADO

I called her on the phone in the summer, said I'd come the first chance that I could
She told me she was always lonesome for me, and my voice made her feel awful good
But the things I was doin' kept me busy, tryin' to make a name and all
And her daddy said she lived in Albuquerque, in December when I finally give a call
He said, "She moved down there right after she got married in the fall ---
I'm surprised she didn't tell you that she would"

         Now the March wind blows away the last of the city snows
         But it's springtime south of Colorado
         Busy city day, wish I was headin' on my way
         Hitchhiking NORTH TO EL PRADO

I stayed away so long and I travelled so far, sorta seems that I missed her
Prob'ly it come of playin' my guitar too many nights I should'a' kissed her
Now I sometimes think about goin' back, just to see her family
Her parents and her brothers always took a likin' to me
And though I never gave it any notice she could see
I'm rememberin' that Katie had a sister

         It's a long way back down the four-lane track
         To the springtime south of Colorado
         Jersey Turnpike in the rain, wishin' the sun would smile again
         Hitchhiking NORTH TO EL PRADO

Copyright © 1969, 2004 by Dennis D'Asaro