Utah Phillips - Yuba City

        A                 E
I came into Yuba as soon as I read
   D                        A
Of all of those twenty-five hobos found dead
  A                       D
I came in to find out if one of the slain
            A           E           A
Could have answered to my brother's name
   A                        E
It might be your brother, I just couldn't say
   D                         A
We hire lots of floaters who work by the day;
    A                    D
Now I see his photo they might be the same
      A         E           A
But I never did ask him his name

           A                   E
Chorus: If I had a list and if I only knew
    E                          A
I'd write down their names and sing them to you
    A                    D
And when I got done, I'd sing them again
         A             E         A
So you'd all know each one had a name
 A                    E
He had a room and ran out on the rent
 D                       A
Hired on a crew, I don't know where he went
   A                  D
If I knew his boss, I might make a claim
      A          E             A
But I never did write down his name

   A                         E
He stopped for a drink every now and again
 D                             A
Didn't look no different than hundreds of men;
    A                          D
You know these old winos, they all look the same
   A         E           A
No reason to ask him his name
   A                         E
It might have been Shorty, a feller I knew
   D                              A
We bunked in the empties when the season was through
    A                         D
You know, I been thinking, it sure is a shame
  A         E           A
I never did ask him his name

   A                  E
We always abandon the old for the new
    D                      A
And second-hand people get thrown away, too;
  A                       D
I know it won't help, but still it explains
    A         E            A
Why no one remembers their names