[Intro] C
[Verse 1]
CFC
Dora Hand was a singer in the New York operetta
G
Born into Boston old money, and Paristrained
CFC
Dressed in black, she was a classic beauty but cursed with constitution sickly
GC
She ventured West to breathe the fresh air on the Plains
FC
She ended up down in Dodge City, it was a cowtown, dry and ugly
G
She hid her past, took Fannie Keenan for a name
CFC
Took the stage as a Vaudeville singer at the Lady Gay and the Alhambra
GC
The cowboys loved her and she quickly rose to fame
[Chorus]
FDm
Sing a song, boys, for Dora Hand
CF
She brought a little beauty to this hard and barren land
DmG
Doff your caps, boys, though saved or damned
C
For Dora Hand
[Verse 2]
CFC
Now to the Dodge folk she was an Angel, they called her Lady Bountiful By day, and "Queen Of Fairy Belles"
G
by night
CFC
She was bringing in good money, so she gave plenty to the needy
GC
She sure could sing, but she sure knew her wrong from right
FC
Now lovely Dora, she took the fancy of that mayor, James Dog Kelley
G
Like many a man before him, he was heard to say
CFC
"That there Dora is a beautiful creature, she gives men a strange nostalgia
GC
Dreams of finer things and better days"
[Chorus]
FDm
So sing a song, boys, for Dora Hand
CF
She brought a little beauty to this hard and barren land
DmG
Dream a dream, boys, of a promised land
C
Of Dora Hand
[Bridge]
AmEm
Now young Spike Kennedy came up from Texas on a rolling black thunder cloud
DmAm
He was a-whooping and a-whoring and a-drowning in whiskey like a one-man bad luck crowd
AmEm
One night he saw Dora singing at the Alhambra and he tried to slip the lady a kiss
DmAm
Dog Kelley got angry and he knocked him on his belly with one flick of his Kansas wrist
DmEmAmGF
Well now Spike, he got mad, he was looking out for blood, he was raging like the Devil's stepson
DmEmAmGF
He rode out to the cabin which the mayor used for napping on a horse with a loaded six-gun
DmEmAmGF
He fired in the dark, but he didn't hit his mark when the bullet went through that wall
DmEmAmGAm
Kelley wasn't in his bed, lying there in his stead, Dora Hand was killed
[Guitar Solo]
CFCGCGCFCGFCGC
[Verse 3]
CFC
So the marshals, they raised a posse, and they caught up with young Spike Kenedy
G
His daddy bought him free, even though he confessed
AmFC
All Dodge City wept for Dora, every bar closed as they buried her
GC
Four hundred cowboys rode her to her rest
[Chorus]
FDm
Sing a song, boys, with the funeral band
CF
We won't see her like again in this hard and barren land
DmG
Wave her off, boys, to no man's land
F
Dora Hand
C
Our Dora Hand