Poor Boy Blues

Written by 
Bob Dylan
Released on 
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (2010)
Tabbed by 
Eyolf Østrem

Recorded February 1962 as a Leeds Music demo, and released on The Bootleg Series vol 9: The Witmark Demos

Capo 7th fret (Sounding key A major)
Open D/E tuning (D-A-d-f#-a-d’)

The guitar part consists of one little figure, played over and over again. The basic pattern is just one measure long, and the distinctive feature is the bass line (all downstrokes, with light upstrokes in between):

    G/b /a  D/f D
    :   .   .   .
||--0---0---0---0----||
||*-0---0---0---0---*||
||--1---1---0---0----||
||--0---0---0---0----||
||*-2---0---0---0---*||
||----------3---0----||

Occasional variants occur, as do irregularities and “errors” (if I may say so), such as:

   :   .   .   .
||-0---0---0---0---||
||-0---0---0---0---||
||-1---1---0---0---||
||-0---0---0---0---||
||-2---2---0---0---||
||---------3---0---||
Chords 
G/b      x20100
G/a      x00100
D/f      300000
D        000000

Mm, tell mama
Where'd ya sleep last nite?
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, hm

Hey, tell me baby
What's the matter here?
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, hm

Hey, stop the ol' train
Let a poor boy ride
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, hm

Hey, mister bartender
I swear I'm not too young
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, hm

Blow you whistle, policeman
My poor feet are trained to run
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, [Uhm. Ha ha] hm

Long distance operator
I hear this phone call is on the house
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, hm

Ashes an' diamonds
The difference I can't see
Can't you hear me cryin'?
Hm, hm
            
  :   .   .   .
|-----0---0-------||
|-----0---0-------||
|-----1---0-------||
|-----0---0-------||
|-----2---0-------||
|-0-------0-------||

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