The Hitter by Bruce Springsteen 3/4 | G / / | G / / | G / /| G / / | G C G Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain C I was just passin' through and got caught in the rain G There's nothin' I want, nothin' that you need say D G Just let me lie down for a while and I'll be on my way G C G I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen C With the police on my back I fled to New Orleans G I fought in the dockyards and with the money I made D G I knew the fight was my home and blood was my trade G C G Baton Rouge, Poncitoula, and Lafayette town C Well they paid me their money, Ma, I knocked the men down G I did what I did well it come easily D G | Restraint and mercy, Ma, were always strangers to me HARP SOLO | G | G | G | C |C | Em | Em | G | C | C | C | G | G | G | G G C G I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud C Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood G In the twelfth I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw C I stood over him and pounded his bloody body into the floor G Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on D G 'Till I felt my glove leather slip 'tween his skin and bone G C G Then the women and the money came fast and the days I lost track C The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black G I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets D G I took my good share, Ma, I have no regrets G C G Then I took the fix at the state armory with big John McDowell C From high in the rafters I watched myself fall G As he raised his arm my stomach twisted and the sky it went black D G I stuffed my bag with their good money and I never looked back C G Understand, in the end, Ma, every man plays the game D G If you know me one different then speak out his name C Ma if my voice now you don't recognize G D G Then just open the door and look into your dark eyes C I ask of you nothin', not a kiss not a smile, G D G Just open the door and let me lie down for a while G C G Now the gray rain's fallin' and my ring fightin's done C So in the work fields and alleys I take all who'll come G If you're a better man than me then just step to the line C Show me your money and speak out your crime G Now there's nothin' I want, Ma, nothin' that you need say D G Just let me lie down for a while and I'll be on my way G Tonight in the shipyard a man draws a circle in the dirt C I move to the center and I take off my shirt G I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, Man, nor time can erase D C G I move hard to the left and I strike to the face www.TAB6.com