Bottomless lake  John Prine

##song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. ###Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 15:06:55 +1100 (EST)#bottomless_lake.crd, as transcribed by Phil Scott, P.Scott@latrobe.edu.au##>From the album "Aimless Love", Oh Boy Records, 1986


  Play with capo on 3rd fret, ie actually in key of A#


I'm not certain I've tracked down all of the chords in


the verse. I've got a sneaking suspicion that there's at


least one variation on an A chord there somewhere, but I


can't tell for the life of me what it is.


Anyway, the following seems to work for me.


(Guitar Intro: G C C C G G G D D D G G G (twice))


[G]Here's the story of a man and his family


And a [D]big trip that they [G]took


I heard all about it in a restaurant


And I [D]read it in a history book


They [C]rented a car at the [G]Erie Canal


But the car didn't have no [C]brake


Said [G]ma to pa my God this car


Is gonna [D]fall into the bottomless [G]lake


(guitar: repeat intro)


Well mama turned to daddy with a pale face


She said I've done something horribly wrong


The water's still runnin' in the bathtub


And I think I left the kitchen light on


Then I heard a crash, the car went splash


The compass rolled around and around


Oh, for heaven's sake we fell in a lake


And I think we're all gonna drown


CHORUS


[G]We are [D]falling down


Down to the bottom of a [G]hole in the ground


Smoke 'em if you got 'em


[C]I'm so scared, I can [G]hardly breathe


I may [D]never see my sweetheart [G]again


(guitar: repeat intro)


There was plenty of food in the back seat


And the windows were rolled up tight


So we all nibbled on a chicken leg


And told stories way through the night


Pa told one that he told before


And the baby got a bellyache


Said ma to pa, my God this car


Is falling down the bottomless lake


CHORUS


(guitar: repeat intro)


Papa played the music on the radio


Mama rocked the baby to sleep


He said he would'a taken the other road


But he didn't think the lake was that deep


If the ferry'd been there at the end of the pier


We'd be half way to Uncle Jake's


Instead of lookin' at fish out the window, I wish


We'd hit the bottom of the bottomless lake


(repeat) Instead of lookin' at fish out the window, I wish


We'd hit the bottom of the bottomless lake


CHORUS


(guitar: repeat intro twice)


So if you're ever goin' on a big trip


Ya better be careful out there


Start everything on your good foot


Wear clean underwear


Take along a bible in the back seat


Read of David and of Solomon


Coz if you make a mistake in the bottomless lake


You may never see your sweetheart again


If you should make a mistake in the bottomless lake


You may never see your sweetheart again


(repeat) If you should make a mistake in the bottomless lake


You may never see your sweethearts again


That's right...