This is the chord progression of The Death Of Dora Hand by Frank Turner on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar and Keyboard.
[Intro] C
[Verse 1]
C F C
Dora Hand was a singer in the New York operetta
G
Born into Boston old money, and Paristrained
C F C
Dressed in black, she was a classic beauty but cursed with constitution sickly
G C
She ventured West to breathe the fresh air on the Plains
F C
She ended up down in Dodge City, it was a cowtown, dry and ugly
G
She hid her past, took Fannie Keenan for a name
C F C
Took the stage as a Vaudeville singer at the Lady Gay and the Alhambra
G C
The cowboys loved her and she quickly rose to fame
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[Chorus]
F Dm
Sing a song, boys, for Dora Hand
C F
She brought a little beauty to this hard and barren land
Dm G
Doff your caps, boys, though saved or damned
C
For Dora Hand
[Verse 2]
C F C
Now to the Dodge folk she was an Angel, they called her Lady Bountiful By day, and “Queen Of Fairy Belles”
G
by night
C F C
She was bringing in good money, so she gave plenty to the needy
G C
She sure could sing, but she sure knew her wrong from right
F C
Now lovely Dora, she took the fancy of that mayor, James Dog Kelley
G
Like many a man before him, he was heard to say
C F C
“That there Dora is a beautiful creature, she gives men a strange nostalgia
G C
Dreams of finer things and better days”
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[Chorus]
F Dm
So sing a song, boys, for Dora Hand
C F
She brought a little beauty to this hard and barren land
Dm G
Dream a dream, boys, of a promised land
C
Of Dora Hand
[Bridge]
Am Em
Now young Spike Kennedy came up from Texas on a rolling black thunder cloud
Dm Am
He was a-whooping and a-whoring and a-drowning in whiskey like a one-man bad luck crowd
Am Em
One night he saw Dora singing at the Alhambra and he tried to slip the lady a kiss
Dm Am
Dog Kelley got angry and he knocked him on his belly with one flick of his Kansas wrist
Dm Em Am G F
Well now Spike, he got mad, he was looking out for blood, he was raging like the Devil’s stepson
Dm Em Am G F
He rode out to the cabin which the mayor used for napping on a horse with a loaded six-gun
Dm Em Am G F
He fired in the dark, but he didn’t hit his mark when the bullet went through that wall
Dm Em Am G Am
Kelley wasn’t in his bed, lying there in his stead, Dora Hand was killed
[Guitar Solo]
C F C G C G C F C G F C G C
[Verse 3]
C F C
So the marshals, they raised a posse, and they caught up with young Spike Kenedy
G
His daddy bought him free, even though he confessed
Am F C
All Dodge City wept for Dora, every bar closed as they buried her
G C
Four hundred cowboys rode her to her rest
[Chorus]
F Dm
Sing a song, boys, with the funeral band
C F
We won’t see her like again in this hard and barren land
Dm G
Wave her off, boys, to no man’s land
F
Dora Hand
C
Our Dora Hand
