C                          Am 
Well I started out to be a towboat man
      G                       C
But I never got the hang of a ratchet bar
         C                         Am
I was a -growin up a-deckin in the Illinois trade
     D               G
with coal dust in my ear
      C                   Em
I got stuck in the ice on Christmas Eve
      F                 G
And I froze my ass it's true
       C                            Am
Just a shiv'rin and a-shakin with a Down South case of them
G                 C
Steamboat whistle blues
   C               Em        F             G
Oh Captain Way I'm sorry, my hat is off to you
              C                  Am
You've been a-hanging out by the old cook stove
         G                 C
With the steamboat whistle blues

C Am G C C Am D G C Em F G C Am G C C

[Verse 2]

     C              Am
Well way up North I called your phone
      G                    C
But I didn't get no one to answer
     C                          Am
So I opened up the window and I smoked a little bit
      D                   G
And I watched the cars go by
          C               Em
I'm gonna hunt you up and ask you
       F                  G
If you found out anything new
   C                       Am
Or are you a-hangin to the best you had
         G                 C
With the steamboat whistle blues
     C                     Em
I've been right here since nine o'clock
    F                     G
And believe you me that's true
       C                        Am                G                 C
Just a-lookin at the water ways churning with the steamboat whistle blues

C Am G C C Am D G C Em F G C Am G C C

[Verse 3]

         C                          Am
Well the city's growing up where it looks all square
       G                        C
Like a crossword puzzle on the landscape
   C                      Am
It looks like an electric shaver now
          D                  G
Where the courthouse used to be
    C                Em
The grass is all synthetic
       F                             G
And we don't know for sure about the food
    C             Am                    G                 C
The only thing we know for sure is them steamboat whistle blues
    C                Em      F                         G
I'd sit and watch my TV if I thought I could trust the news
          C            Am
About the only thing I trust these days
        G                 C
Is them steamboat whistle blues

C Am G C C Am D G C Em F G C Am G C C

[Verse 4]

      C                      Am
Well "far out" Johnny well I heard him say
      G                         C
As he stretched out back on the water bed
C                    Am
Bluegrass music is a thing of the past
        D                 G
And the same for rock and roll
      C                       Em
And I loaned him two or three dollars
       F                  G
And he gave me the latest news
       C                   Am
And he left me here with a Rolling Stone
        G                 C
And the steamboat whistle blues
     C                 Em         F              G
I'll tear off down the river some day before I'm through
     C                  Am
Then come back here and see it out
         G                C
With the steamboat whistle blues