Jesse
Written by Janis Ian
Arranged by Joan Baez
Tablature by Nathan Sitkoff (sitkoff@cs.umass.edu)

No capo; standard tuning

Anybody who knows what key/mode this is please drop me a line. It
looks a bit like C, but feels more like Dm.

I think that this is pretty close to what JB is doing. I definitely
fudged a bit during the verse; there’s some kind of hammer-on during
the E chord which I can’t figure out. As always, comments are
welcome, and if anybody out there can do better please post it.

Note: During the intro, finger the Dm “as usual” with the index,
middle and ring fingers of your left hand. During the verse, use your
index, middle and PINKY so you can use your ring finger to fret the C
in Dm/C. This makes progressing from Dm to Dm/C to G7 easy.

Intro:

E ----0------- ------0----- ----0------- ------0-----
B ------1---1- ----1---1--- ------1---1- ----1-------
G --0-----0--- --0-------0- --0-----0--- --0---------
D ------------ ------------ ------------ 0-----------
A 3----------- 3----------- 2----------- --------2---
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

[G/Bb]

E ------0----- ------0----- ------0----- --------0---
B ----3---3--- ----3---3--- --------2--- 2---3-------
G --0-------0- --0-------0- ----0-----0- ------------
D ------------ ------------ --2--------- ------------
A 1----------- 1----------- 0----------- ------------
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

E 1-----1----- 3---1---0h1- 1----------- ------------
B ----3---3--- ------3----- --------0-0- 0---1---3---
G --2-------2- --2--------- ------0----- ------------
D 0----------- ------------ ----0------- ------------
A ------------ ------------ --2--------- ----0---2---
E ------------ ------------ 3----------- 3----------- 

E ----------0- 0----------- ----------0- 0-----------
B 3-----3----- ------3----- 3-----3----- ------3-----
G ----0---0--- ----0---0--- ----0---0--- ----0---0---
D --2--------- --2-------2- --2--------- --2-------2-
A 3----------- 3----------- 3----------- 3-----------
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

Verse:

E ------0----- ------0----- ------0----- ------0-----
B ----1---1--- ----1---1--- ----1---1--- ----1---1---
G --0-------0- --0-------0- --0-------0- --0-------0-
D ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
A 3----------- 3----------- 2----------- 2-----------
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

Jesse come home, there’s a hole in the bed where we

[G/Bb]

E ------0----- ------0----- ------0----- --------0---
B ----3---3--- ----3------- --------2--- 2---3-------
G --0-------0- --0--------- ----0-----0- ------------
D ------------ 0----------- --2--------- ------------
A 1----------- --------1--- 0----------- 0---2---4---
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

slept; now it’s growing cold.

[Dm/C]

E ------1----- ------1----- ------1----- ------1-----
B ----3---3--- ----3---3--- ----3---3--- ----3---3---
G --2-------2- --2-------2- --2-------2- --2-------2-
D 0----------- 0----------- ------------ ------------
A ------------ ------------ 3----------- 3-----------
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

Jesse your face in the place where we lay by the

E ------1----- ------------ 0-----0----- 0-----0-----
B ----3---3--- 0---1---3--- ----1---1--- ----0-------
G --0-------0- ------------ --0-------0- --1---------
D ------------ ------------ ------------ 2-----------
A 2----------- ----0---2--- 3----------- --------2---
E ------------ 3----------- ------------ ------------ 

hearth all apart it hangs on my heart

E ------0----- ------0----- ------0----- ------1-----
B ----0---0--- ----2---2--- ----2---2--- ----3---3---
G --1-------1- --2-------2- --2-------2- --2-------2-
D ------------ ------------ 2----------- 0-----------
A ------------ 0----------- ------------ ------------
E 0----------- ------------ ------------ ------------ 

and I’m leaving the light on the stairs

[Dm/C]

E ------1----- ------1----- ------1----- ------0-----
B ----3---3--- ----3---3--- ----3------- ----1-------
G --2-------2- --0-------0- --0--------- --0---------
D ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
A 3----------- 2----------- --------0-2- 3-------3-2-
E ------------ ------------ 3----------- ------------ 

no I’m not scared; I wait for you

A7 Dm (strum) G7 (strum)

E ------0----- 1----------- 1-----------
B ----2---2--- 3----------- 3-----------
G --0-------0- 2----------- 0-----------
D ------------ 0----------- 0-----------
A 0----------- ------------ 2-----------
E ------------ ------------ 3----------- 

Hey Jessie it’s lonely come

E ----------0- 0----------- ----------0- 0-----------
B 3-----3----- ------3----- 3-----3----- ------3-----
G ----0---0--- ----0---0--- ----0---0--- ----0---0---
D --2--------- --2-------2- --2--------- --2-------2-
A 3----------- 3----------- 3----------- 3-----------
E ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ 

home

Lyrics:

Jesse come home, there’s a hole in the bed
Where we slept; now it’s growing cold.
Jesse your face, in the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart, it hangs on my heart

And I’m leaving the light on the stairs
No I’m not scared; I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home.

Jesse the stairs in the halls, recalling
Your step; and I remember too.
All the pictures are shaded and fading in grey
And I still set a place on the table at noon

And I’m leaving the light on the stairs
No I’m not scared; I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home.

Jesse the spread on the bed,
It’s like when you left, I kept it for you.
All the blues and the greens have been recently cleaned
And are seemingly new; hey Jess, me and you.

We’ll swallow the light on the stairs
I’ll fix up my hair, we’ll sleep unawares
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home