G Em C C
Am C/G Em Em
[Verse 1]
G Em C C
I grew up on the Indiana side of Chicago
Am C/G Em Em
With the rusty steel mills belching in the westward wind
G Em C C
I watched Mom and Dad trying to clean their sorrows
Am C/G Em Em
With my brothers and me at old Lake Michigan
[Chorus]
D
There's a little boy
Em
He's got big brown eyes
D
He's got swimming trunks
A
‘bout twice his size
D
Yeah he's looking at a steel mill sunset
Em
Skipping a stone,
C C/E Am G D
"Hey boy, ain't you a little young to feel so alone?"
[Verse 2]
G Em C
Well they changed the name of my hometown when we moved away
Am C/G Em
Now it's more than words that I don't recognize
D/F# G Em C
That kid down at the filling station tried to keep my change from a twenty
Am C/G Em
I could see that cold assurance in his eyes
[Verse 3]
D Em
Hey you need ten dollars for the rainy day?
D A
Yeah save and go to college or just get away get away get away
C D Em
Or you could spend that money on a two-day stone
C C/E Am G D
Oh, there are worse things in this world than being alone let me tell you now...
[Solo]
Am Em Am Em
Am Em C D
Am Em Am Em
Am Em C Bm
[Verse 4]
G Em C
So, if you're driving from Chicago, east of Gary
Am C/G Em
And you find a fallen town that has two names
G Em C
There'll be no one to possibly remember
Am C/G Em
A little lonesome brown-eyed boy who went by James
[Chorus]
D
Oh the mill's shut down
Em
But the air's still sour
D
You get a hotel room
A
You gotta pay by the hour
D
Oh the good old days
Em
They're just good and gone
C C/E Am G D
Like autumn leaves on a burning lawn
[Outro]
G D/F# Em D C
Yeah I grew up on the Indiana side of Chicago
Am Em
With the rusty steel mills belching in the westward wind
