Pretty Polly Chords
Pretty Polly by Shovels & Rope is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of C. It uses the chords C, G, D, Em and Am. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.
verse 1
C G D G
Polly was girl not yet sixteen
C G D
I met her by the lake in the fall
C G D G
Our love unfurled like a warm, sick dream
Em D
It's a shame I had to go and waste it all
verse 2
C G D G
When we were together everything was alright
C G D
We shared everything we could share
C G D G
Easy like a feather till that one midnight
Em D G
When she hit me with that under my spell and I couldn't let her go
Am
For the child that she would bear
D
My arms were turning into rope
Pre-Chorus
C G D
I couldn't let her go
C G D
I couldn't let her stay
C G D C G D
I buried pretty Polly in a poor, pathetic grave
Em D G C Em D
Now she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay lay
Em D G C Em D
Ah, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay lay
verse 3
C G D G
Stranded in the Tivoli parking lot
C G D
No gas, no money, no love
C G D G
Promised to a promise that I wouldn't get caught
Em D G
But the dark sky handed me a gun and I couldn't let it go
Am D
All the beauty up above I could never control
C G D
I couldn't let her go
Pre-Chorus
C G D
I couldn't let her go
C G D
I couldn't let her stay
C G D C G D
I placed pretty Polly in a poor, pathetic grave
Em D G C Em D
And then she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay lay
Em D G C G D Em G D Em
Ah, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay lay
Bridge
C G D
I couldn't let her go
C G D
I couldn't let her stay
C G D
I ran like hell
C G D
I ran a-way
C G D
I ran like hell
C G D
From that hell that I made
C G D
From the mouth of babes
C G D
The mouth of the babes
C G D
Poor pretty Polly
C G D
The wolf and the prey
Em D G C Em D
And then she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay lay
Em D G C Em D
Ah, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay lay
Em D G C
Ah, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay
Em D G C
She lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay
Em D G C Em
She lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay, she lay
Outro
Em Em Em Em