The riff just repeats, very simple:
Riff: C C G G D D G:
I lay my head on the railroad tracks
Waiting for the double E
The rail-road don't run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
Chorus
C G D G
Poor, poor, pitiful me
C G D G
Poor, poor, pitiful me
C G D G
These young girls won't let me be
C D
Lord have mercy on me
D
Woe is me
Well I met a girl in West Hollywood
And I anin't namin' names
But she really worked me over good
She was just like Jesse James
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, lord
Sort of like a Waring blender
Chorus
C G D G
Poor, poor, pitiful me
C G D G
Poor, poor, pitiful me
C G D G
These young girls won't let me be
C D
Lord have mercy on me
D
Woe is me
Solo (12 bars)
These young girls won't let me be
C D
Lord have mercy on me
D
Woe is me
Solo (12 bars)
C D
Lord have mercy on me
D
Woe is me
break (4 bars)
I met a girl at the Rainbow Bar
She asked me if I'd beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House
I don't want to talk about it