The Death of Dora Hand Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[D]Dor[G]a H[D]and was a singer
in the [G]New York oper[D]etta
Born into Boston old money,
and Paris [A]trained
Dressed in black[D],
she was a classic beauty but cursed with [G]constitution [D]sickly
She ventured West to breathe the
[A]fresh air on the [D]Plains[G][D]
She ended up down in Dodge City,
it was [G]a cowtown, dry and u[D]gly
She hid her past,
took Fannie Keenan for [A]a name
Took the [D]stage as a Vaudeville singer at
the Lady [G]Gay and the Alham[D]bra
The cowboys loved her and she
[A]quickly rose to fame
[D][G]

[Verse 2]
[D]
Sing [G]a song, boys, for Dora [Em]Hand
She [D]brought a little beauty to
this [G]hard and barren land
Doff your [Em]caps, boys,
though saved [A]or damned
For Dora Hand
[D][G][D]

[Verse 3]
Now to the Dodge folk she was an Angel
They [G]called her "Lady [D]Bountiful" by day,
and "Queen Of Fairy Belles" by [A]night
She was [D]bringing in good money,
so she gave [G]plenty to the [D]needy
She sure could sing,
but she sure [A]knew her wrong from [D]right
Now lovely Dora, she took the fancy of that [G]mayor,
James Dog [D]Kelley
Like many a man before him,
he was heard [A]to say
"That there [D]Dora is a beautiful creature,
she gives [G]men a strange nos[D]talgia
Dreams of [A]finer things and better days"
[D]

[Verse 4]
So sing [G]a song, boys,
for Dora [Em]Hand
She [D]brought a little beauty to this
[G]hard and barren land
Dream a [Em]dream, boys, of a promised [A]land
Of Dora Hand
[D][G][D]

[Verse 5]
Now [Bm]young Spike Kennedy came up from
Texas on a [F#]rolling black thunder cloud
He was a-whooping [E]and [Em]and a-whoring and and a-drowning
in in whiskey like a [Bm]one-man bad bad luck crowd
One night he saw Dora singing at the Alhambra
and he [F#]tried to slip the lady a kiss
Dog Kelley [Em]got angry and he knocked him on
his belly with [Bm]one flick of his Kansas wrist
Well now [Em]Spike, he got mad
He was [F#]looking out for blood,
he was [Bm]raging like the [A]Devil's [G]stepson
He [Em]rode out to the cabin which the [F#]mayor used for
napping on a [G]horse with a [A]loaded six-gun
[Bm]He He fi[Em]red in the dark,
but he [F#]didn't hit his mark when the [Bm]bullet went [A]through that [G]wall
Kelley [Em]wasn't in his bed, lying [F#]there in his stead,
[G]Dora [A]Hand was killed

[Interlude 1]
[Bm][D][G][D][A]
[D][C][G][Bb][D][A][G][D]
[A][D]

[Verse 6]
So the [D]marshals, they raised a posse,
and they caught [G]up with young Spike [D]Kennedy
His daddy bought him free,
even though [A]he confessed
All Dodge [Bm]City wept for Dora,
every [G]bar closed as they buried her
Four [D]hundred cowboys
[A]rode her to her [D]rest

[Verse 7]
Sing [G]a song, boys,
with the funeral [Em]band
[D]We won't see her like again in
this [G]hard and barren land
Wave her [Em]off, boys, to no man's [A]land
Dora [G]Hand
Our [A]Dora Hand

[Outro 1]
[D][G][D]