E      E7   A        E   A       E  A       B   A B
E|-----7-9-7--7-----------------|-----------------------------|
B|-7h9----------9-7-------------|-----------------------------|
G|-------------------9-9--------|----9----------9-11-11--9--8-|
D|-----------------------9h11-9-|-11---11-9--11----------11-9-|
A|------------------------------|-----------------------------|
E|------------------------------|-----------------------------|

         E      E7   A        E   F#m      G#m   B  E    Esus4           E
E|-----7-9-7--7-----------------|-9-12--12-16-12-14-12-|----9-12-9---------|
B|-7h9----------9-7-------------|----------------------|-12--------12-10-9-|
G|-------------------9-9--------|----------------------|-------------------|
D|-----------------------9h11-9-|----------------------|-------------------|
A|------------------------------|----------------------|-------------------|
E|------------------------------|----------------------|-------------------|

[Verse 1]
        E          E7
It was late in the evenin'
        A        E
Just a few of us pickin',
        A        E
But the lady she played
   A        B           A       B
So easy and fine.
        E               E7
And the chords that she strummed
        A          E
Were so tastefully clever,
     F#m          G#m     B  E          Esus4   E
They planted this song in my mind.

[Chorus 1]
                E           E7       A       E
'Cause there's something so feminine about a mandolin,
    A             E
The way that they feel,
    A             B     A       B
The way that they ring.
        E           E7
Just to see slender fingers,
A         E
Movin' so quickly,
F#m       G#m   B     E         Esus4   E
Made this boy want to sing.

[Verse 2]
    E           E7       A        E
And when I get older and I have a daughter,
     A            E         A           B       A       B
I'll teach her to sing, and play her my songs
         E              E7           A      E
And I'll tell her some stories I can barely remember
    F#m           G#m  B    E   Esus4   E
And hope that she will sing along.

[Verse 3]
E         E7                A        E          (see riff)
Maybe one day she'll take a fancy to pickin',
        A            E
'Cause when that bug bites you,
    A             B     A       B
You live with the string.
        E               E7    A          E
And if she could just strum a few simple measures
F#m             G#m       B     E       Esus4   E
She could make some young man sing.

[Chorus 2]
                E           E7       A       E
'Cause there's something so feminine about a mandolin,
    A             E
The way that they feel,
    A             B     A       B
The way that they ring.
         E            E7
And that evening in a pasture,
A              E
Somewhere near Austin.
     F#m      G#m  B  E         Esus4   E
That mandolin made me sing,
E7  F#m      G#m  B  A          E
Her mandolin made me sing.

(riff)
E|----12-14-16-14-12--------|
B|-14----------------14--12-|
G|--------------------------|
D|--------------------------|
A|--------------------------|
E|--------------------------|