verse 1
C
I was walking around in Denver
G Em
One luckless rainy day,
C
When Kilpatrick's mancatcher
C
Came up to me and did say
F
I'll lay you down five dollars
C
Quickly as I can
G
If you'll hurry up and catch the train,
C
She's starting from Cheyenne.
C
Way out in Idaho,
Bm C
Way out in Idaho,
C
A-workin' on the narrow gauge
G C
Way out in Idaho.
verse 2
C
Well he laid me down five dollars,
C
Like many another man,
C
And I hurried to the depot
C
As happy as a clam
F
When I got to Pocatello
C
My troubles begin to grow,
C
I was waitin' in the sagebrush
G
The rain, the wind, the snow.
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
A-workin' on the narrow gauge
D C
Way out in Idaho.
verse 3
C
When I got to American Falls,
Bm C
It was there I met Fat Jack,
C
He kept a little hotel tent
C
Along beside the track.
F
Now says he, you are a stranger,
C
Perhaps your funds are low,
C
Well yonder stands me hotel tent,
C
The best in Idaho.
C
Way out in Idaho,
Bm C
Way out in Idaho,
C
A-workin' on the narrow gauge
G C
Way out in Idaho.
verse 4
Em
Well I followed my conductor
Em
Into his hotel tent,
Em
And for one square and hearty meal,
Em
I paid him my last cent.
F
Now Jack's a jolly fellow,
C
You'll always find him so,
C
A-working on the narrow gauge,
Bm C
Way out in Idaho.
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
A-workin' on the narrow gauge
Bm C
Way out in Idaho.
Verse 5
C
Well he put me to work next morning
C
With a cranky cuss called Bill,
C
They gave me a ten pound hammer
C
To strike upon the drill
F
They said if I didn't like it,
C
I could take my shirts and go,
C
And they'd keep my blankets for my board
D C
Way out in Idaho.
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
A-workin' on the narrow gauge
Bm C
Way out in Idaho.
Verse 6
C
Well it filled my heart with pity,
G Em
As I walked along the tracks,
Em
To see so many old bundlers
Em
With their packs upon their backs
F
They said the work was heavy,
C
The grub they could not go
C
Around Kilpatrick's dirty tables
Bm C
Way out in Idaho.
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
Way out in Idaho,
C
A-workin' on the narrow gauge
Bm C
Way out in Idaho.
Verse 7
C
Well, now I'm well and working
Bm C
Down in the harvest camps,
F C
And there I will continue
C
Till I make a few more stamps
Am
I'll go back to New Mexico,
C
Marry a girl I know,
C
And we'll buy us a horse and buggy
G C
And go back to Idaho.