From the record Loft Music (2004).
Thea plays it in F minor on the record.
This is, however, a version quite close to the original from the 1932 musical revue Americana.
By Jay Gorney (music) and E Y Harburg (words).
Some notes on the chords below.
[Verse 1]
Cm Am7-5 D7
Once I built a rail-road
G7 C7
Made it run
F7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 A7
Made it race against time.
Ab Gm13
Once I built a railroad
Cm Adim
Now it's done
Ab7 G7 G7+5 Cm Ab7 G7
Brother, can you spare a dime?
[Verse 2]
Cm Am7-5 D7
Once I built a tow- er
G7 C7
to the sun
F7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 A7
Brick and rivet and lime.
Ab Gm13
Once I built a tower,
Cm Adim
Now it's done.
Ab7 G7 G7+5 Cm Db13
Brother, can you spare a dime?
[Bridge]
C7
Once in khaki suits
Gm7-5 C7
Gee we looked swell
Gm7-5 C7
Full of that yankee doodle dum.
F7 Cm7 F7
Half a million boots went sloggin' off to hell
Cm Cm/Bb Cm/A Ab7/Eb G7/D G7+5
I was the kid with the drum!
[Verse 3]
Cm Abmaj7
Say don't you remember?
Abdim7 C7
You called me Al.
Bm7-5 Bb7 Ebmaj7 A7
It was Al all the time.
Ab G7/F
Say don't you remember?
Cm Am13
I'm your pal.
Ab7 G7 G7+5 Cm
Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Ab7 G7 G7+5 Cm
Say, buddy, can you spare a dime?
Ab7 G7 G7+5 Cm
Buddy, can you spare a dime?
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Notes for c minor:
Instead of the Am7-5 in the first line of verse 1 and 2, you can play Cm/A.
They contain the exact same notes, in fact.
For picking in c minor:
The falling line D7, G7, C7, F7, Bb7, Emaj7 can be played nicely like this.
Limited finger movement and a simple pattern recurring three times
(save the slight variation on the last chord, maj7 instead of 7)
Barré on 5 Barré on 3 Barré on 1
D7 G7 C7 F7 Bb7 Emaj7
e 8 7 6 5 4 3
b 7 6 5 4 3 3
G 5 7 3 5 1 3
D x 5 x 3 x 1
A 5 x 3 x 1 x
E x x x x x x