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#This file is the work of fans and represents their interpretation of the song.# 

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The Hitter - Bruce Springsteen



DRAFT



3/4  | G / / | G / / | G / /| G / / |



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





| 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











The song is originally played in the following tuning (low to high):   C-G-D-G-B-D



You can use these patterns for each chord (listen to the recording for tempo):



   G             C             C* (bridge)   D             Em 

D|-----0-------|-----0-------|-----5-------|-------------|-----5-----5-|

B|-------0---0-|-------------|-------3---3-|-----1-----1-|-------3-----|

G|---------0---|-------5---5-|---------5---|-------2-----|---0-----0---|

D|---0---------|---------5---|-------------|---0-----0---|-------------|

G|-0-----------|---5---------|---5---------|-------------|-4-----------|

C|-------------|-0-----------|-0-----------|-2-----------|-------------|







Of course, you can also play the song in standard tuning. The main difference is that now that bass C note will be unavailable; everything will sound a bit higher.



You can use these patterns for each chord:



   G             C             C* (bridge)   D             Em 

D|-------------|-------------|-----3-------|-------------|-----3-----3-|

B|-----3-------|-----3-------|-------3---3-|-----3-----3-|-------3-----|

G|-------0---0-|-------0---0-|---------0---|---2---2-----|---0-----0---|

D|---------0---|---2-----2---|---2---------|-0-------0---|-------------|

G|---2---------|-3-----------|-3-----------|-------------|-2-----------|

C|-3-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|