Words and music Bob Dylan
Recorded March 1971 and released on Greatest Hits, vol 2 (1971)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem
The nice figures A - D/a - A and D/a - A/e - E work well on a piano, but on a guitar they are much more easily produced in G (capo 2nd fret), where the ensuing G/d could be played xx0433 (to set it off as something different from plain G).
The last verse doesn't work very well in either version.
D D A/e E A
|: D/a D/a A :|
A D/a A
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble,
(D/a) A/e E A
Ancient footprints are everywhere.
D/a A D/a A
You can almost think that you're seein' double
(D/a) A/e E A
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs.
E D A
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room,
E D A
Where I've got me a date with Botticelli's niece.
D/a A D/a A
Yup, she promised that she'd be right there with me
(D/a) A/e E A D/a A
When I paint my masterpiece.
Oh, the hours I've spent inside the Coliseum,
Dodging lions and wastin' time.
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em,
Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb.
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory,
as the daylight hours do increase
Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece.
*)
/a-g#-g-f# F . . .
F7 Bb Eb Bb
I left Rome and landed in Brussels,
Bb/f F Bb
With a picture of a tall oak tree by my side.
Bb Eb/bb Bb
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles,
Bb/f F Bb
Everyone was there and nobody tried to hide.
F Bb
Newspapermen eating candy
F Eb Bb
Had to be held down by big police.
Bb Eb/bb Bb
Someday, everything is gonna be diff'rent
Bb/f F Bb
When I paint my masterpiece.
*) The following two lines are not included in the Greatest Hits version, but were sung at this place during the Rolling Thunder Revue (1975):
Sailin' 'round the world in a dirty gondola.
Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!
Version with capo on the 2nd fret:
C C G/d D G
G C/g G
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble,
C/g G/d D G
Ancient footprints are everywhere.
C/g G C/g G
You can almost think that you're seein' double
C/g G/d D G C/g G
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs.
D C G
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room,
D C G
Where I've got me a date with Botticelli's niece.
C/g G C/g G
Yup, she promised that she'd be right there with me
C/g G/d D G C/g G
When I paint my masterpiece.