Verse
Bm A Bm
He was a shrimper out of San Leon bad language and bad teeth
Bm A Bm
He had an oyster shell exterior even rougher underneath
D A Bm A
The deckhands called him captain the new comers called him stew
Bm A Bm
The old salts called him catfish by the way his whiskers grew
Bm A Bm
Tattoo on a sunburned arm said Ruby in a black heart
Bm A Bm
Sometimes he’d wake up sweating and yell that name out in the dark
D A Bm A
She came down from Corpus Christi part woman part child
Bm A Bm
And the way she moved could take your breath and it drove the rednecks wild
[Chorus]
D A
Beauty and pain are fleeting
Bm A
They get washed to the sea
Bm A Bm
Storms swell like Satan only God can wash you clean
[Verse 2]
Bm A Bm
Catfish could not help himself and Ruby was not free
Bm A Bm
He didn’t see her for what she was but what he wanted her to be
D A Bm A
He never answered questions about the future or the past
Bm A Bm
Just another shot of whiskey saying nothing ever lasts
Bm A Bm
The warnings had come early and the morning looked like blood
Bm A Bm
The birds were wild and nervous like before the last big flood
D A Bm A
Everybody stared to the sea it took their breath
Bm A Bm
Clouds grew dark and ominous looked like danger looked like death
[Chorus]
D A
Beauty and pain are fleeting
Bm A
They get washed to the sea
Bm A Bm
Storms swell like Satan only God can wash you clean
[Verse 3]
Bm A Bm
Catfish started drinking like a hundred times before
Bm A Bm
You ain’t going to get me this time he said you dirty whore
D A Bm A
He’d rode out every single storm that ever hit the coast
Bm A Bm
But the worst storm raged inside him and haunted like a ghost
Bm A Bm
They all started boarding up the windows nothing new
Bm A Bm
But this one felt different and the storm clouds sailed steel blue
D A Bm A
I’m going to ride her out right here this boats my ball and chain
Bm A Bm
Damn storm named Ruby ain’t no bitch I can’t tame
[Chorus]
D A
Beauty and pain are fleeting
Bm A
They get washed to the sea
Bm A Bm
Storms swell like Satan only God can wash you clean
[Verse 4]
Bm A Bm
By the next morning it looked like a bad dream
Bm A Bm
Somebody said that late that night they heard somebody scream
D A Bm A
The tide receded slowly and revealed the sunken wreck
Bm A Bm
Bow lines still tied to the dock holes pounded through the deck
Bm A Bm
Down below what they found is still talked about today
Bm A Bm
Catfish sitting dead as life his skin all wet gray
D A Bm A
And when they came to take him they sounded the alarm
Bm A Bm
The tattoo that said Ruby had all but vanished from his arm
[Outro]
D A
Beauty and pain are fleeting
Bm A
They get washed to the sea
Bm A Bm
Storms swell like Satan only God washes you clean