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