Jimmie Standing in the Rain Lyrics

Mr. MacManus "fingerpicks" this song, though it can hardly be described this way since
all the strings are picked at once. I pick the bass string on each beat and occasionally
the off-beat to add some color, but the bass guitar does takes care of this in the
recording and Elvis audibly only really hits the bass once before the first chord of the song.
He uses four different diminished chords (as he is wont to do) in a couple different
positions. All the chords are tabbed at the bottom of the page. The song also has a very
jazzy rhythm which tends to stray from 4/4 from time to time because the song is so
lyric-based. It also makes it nearly impossible to play without having the recording as
A reference.
One last note, even though the chord seems to want to change from F#m to Gdim at the end
of the first few verses, it does not, and this keeps the song from becoming too
predictable as it would be with a consistently rising bass line. Probably a result of
T-Bone Burnett's masterful production. Or Elvis's songwriting for that matter. Not a bad pair.
*Lyrics from SongMeanings.com
Verse 1:
Third-class ticket in his pocket
Punching out the shadows underneath the sockets
Tweed coat turned up against the fog
Slow coaches rolling o'er the moor
Between the very memory and approaches of war
Prehorus 1:
Stale bread curling on a luncheon counter
Loose change lonely, not the right amount
Chorus1:
Forgotten man of an indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
The sky is falling
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Verse 2:
Nobody wants to buy
a counterfeited prairie lullaby
In a colliery town
The hip flask and fumbled skein
Of some stage door Josephine is all he'll get now
Prechorus 2:
Eyes going in and out of focus
Mild and bitter from tuberculosis
Chorus 2:
Forgotten man, indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
The sky is falling
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Bridge:
Her soft breath was gentle on his neck
... C#m G# C#m
If he could choose the time to die
... G#
Then he would come and go like this
Underneath a painted sky
E (ch)G#7/D#(/ch) C#m
She woke up and called him "Charlie" by mistake
And then in shame began to cry
Tarnished silver band peels off a phrase
And then warms their hands around the brazier
Chorus 3:
Forgotten man, indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
It's finally dawning
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Verse 4: (played sparsely)
Brilliantine glistening
Your soft plaintive whistling
And your wan wandering smile
Died down at The Hippodrome
Now you're walking off to jeers,
the lonely sound of jingling spurs,
The "toodle-oos" and "Oh, my dears" down at The Argyle
Prechorus 3:
Vile vaudevillians applaud sobriety
There's no place for a half-cut cowboy in polite society
Chorus 4:
Forgotten man, indifferent nation
Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station
Somebody's calling you again
It's finally dawning
Jimmie's standing in the rain
Somebody's calling you again
It's finally dawning
Jimmie's standing in the rain