Paying the Fiddler
By Dub Miller and Matt Skinner
C C/B Am
Left a dead man in Chihuahua, now he’s hiding out in Baja
F G
in the sun and sand where no one knows the past
C C/B Am
of a long forgotten hero from a long forgotten time
D G
an outlaw who has seen his better days
Am F
Now in Cabo senoritas, forgotten dreams and cheap tequila
C G
maybe he might ease his wounded soul
C C/B Am
from a thousand revolutions, he must pay his retribution,
F G C
and make his peace with finally getting old
Chorus:
C7 F G C C/B Am
He said I’ve been to all four corners, and I’ve ridden all four winds
Am/G F G C
and I’ve had somewhere to go up ‘till now
F G C C/B Am
he’s the last of a dying breed, who’s seen all there is to see
F G C
and he’s paying the fiddler now.
When the cold wind hit the Frio, it was time to leave Del Rio
Uncle Sam was calling him to fight
headlines say torpedoes, their like Houston mosquitoes
boys, pack your bags, we’re leaving here tonight
It was that Pacific Ocean where he first got the notion
that a mercenary life’s the way to be
so he traded in his saddle and his favorite pair of boots
for the wind and sail and life upon the sea
Chorus
In the spring of ’45, he left MacArthur’s side
and found himself entrenched in Panama
then on to Costa Rica, then to fight the Sandanistas’
then on to somewhere else I can’t recall
Lines of latitude and longitude never made a bit of sense
to a man who made his living making war
it’s a life lived by the peso and the crooked dollar bill
and the constant call of another distant shore
Chorus
Now the setting western sun hides the secrets of the desert
a marichai band plays their last sad song
and old man pours a glass of rum and thinks about the past
and a future where he no longer belongs
As the tourists wander in he wonders can they see the sins
of the scars that his battered body bears
do they know of all the deeds he’s done, or know of all the battles won
now he’s too old to fight and no one really cares
Chorus
