Bob Dylan - North Country Blus: Ukulele Chords

Learn to play "North Country Blus" on your ukulele with our detailed chord guide and lyrics. This page provides everything you need to play this song on the ukulele, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.

Learn North Country Blus ukulele chords and lyrics

This section will guide you through each part of the song, providing the ukulele chords placed directly above the lyrics for easy playing. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, these elements will help you perform "North Country Blus" smoothly on your ukulele.

     Cm
Come gather 'round friends
          A#
And I'll tell you a tale
            Cm       A#              Cm
Of when the red iron ore pits ran a-plenty.
But the cardboard-filled windows
        A#
And old men on the benches
          Cm           A#           Cm
Tell you now that the whole town is empty.

In the north end of town
My own children have grown,
But I was raised on the other.
In the wee hours of youth,
My mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother.

The iron ore poured
As the years passed the door,
The drag lines an' the shovels they was a-hummin'.
'Til one day my brother
Failed to come home
The same as my father before him.

Well a long winter's wait,
From the window I watched.
My friends they couldn't have been kinder.
And my school it was cut
As I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner.

Oh the years passed again
And the givin' was good,
With the lunch bucket filled every season.
What with three babies born,
The work was cut down
To a half-a-day shift with no reason.

Then the shaft was soon shut
And more work was cut,
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen.
'Til a man come to speak
And he said, in one week
That number eleven was closin'.

They complained in the East,
They are paying too high.
They say that your ore ain't worth digging.
That it's much cheaper down
In the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing.

So the mining gates locked
And the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinking.
When the sad, silent song
Made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking.

I lived by the window
As he talked to himself,
This silence of tongues it was building.
Till one morning's wake,
The bed it was bare,
And I's left alone with three children.

The summer is gone,
The ground's turning cold,
The stores one by one they're a-foldin'.
My children will go
As soon as they grow.
For there ain't nothing here now to hold them.

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Ukulele Chord Diagrams

Am

Ukulele chord Am

A#

Ukulele chord A#

Cm

Ukulele chord Cm

Here you can see detailed diagrams for each ukulele chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably.

If you are also interested in learning how to play "North Country Blus" on the guitar, check out the chords on our sister site: Guitar Chords for "North Country Blus" by Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan Song List