Best for the Best
by Josh Ritter
(as interpreted by Matt Rowley)

E---------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------
D---2---2/4-4---4/6-6---6------x2-------------
A---------------------------------------------
E-0---0-------0-------0---0-------------------

E----------------------------------0-----------
B--------------------------0-----0-------------
G-------------------1----------2---------------
D---7---7\6-6--4--2------4---4-----------------
A----------------------------------------------
E-0---0-------0--0-----2-----------------------


E----------------------------------------------
B----------------------------0-------0---------
G------------------------1-------1-------------
D----/6-6-4-4-2-----2------2-------2---etc-----
A---------------2/4------------2---------------
E---------------------0------------------------


E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times 
E                          A5        E
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
          A5              A/G#         A/F#      F#sus2add9*       
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind 
            E                             A5      E       
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind


E                             A5               E
I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand 
E                                         A5         E
They say working's best 'cause poverty is hell on a man 
       A5          A/G#              A/F#       F#sus2add9*
Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan
           E                              A5          E
And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned

*2

E                          A5       E
I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain
           E                          A5       E
She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames 
           A5             A/G#            A/F#   F#sus2add9*       
When the boiler blew some people started naming names 
            E                                A5         E
But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame


    E                      A5     E     
I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown 
    E                          A5      E   
A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns 
            A5           A/G#           A/F#   F#sus2add9*      
But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down 
              E                               A5            E
They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found

*2, repeat intro

        E                             A5           E
Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst
   E                                   A5       E    
I don't spend time listening to other people's words 
  A5               A/G#       A/F#      F#sus2add9*       
Sometimes they're right most times the reverse 
              E                             A5             E      
They say the best is for the best when the best is for the worse


E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times 
E                          A5        E
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
          A5              A/G#         A/F#      F#sus2add9*       
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind 
            E                             A5      E       
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind

E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times 
E                         A5        E
Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times 



Chords:

  A5  A/G#  A/F#  F#sus2add9 (?)  :)
E--------------------0-------
B--------------------0-------
G--2---2-----2-------2-------
D--2---2-----2-------4-------
A--0---x-----x-------x-------
E------4-----2-------2-------


Run "*" follows the descending bassline of the 3rd line of each stanza
(it's also part of the intro picking)
E---------------0--------------------
B-------0-----0----------------------
G-----------2------------------------
D-----4---4--------------------------
A------------------------------------
E---2--------------------------------


Run *2 is an interlude between the 1st and 2nd and between the 3rd and 
4th stanzas.  
E----------------------------0-------------------------
B-------0-----0--------0---0--------0-----0--------0---
G-----------2---------------------------2------1------- back to
D-----4---4----------6---6--------4---4----------2----- E... (etc)
A------------------------------------------------------
E---2--------------4------------2------------0---------