Goodbye Mrs Durkin chords

by The Irish Rovers

Song Key: Eb Major

Time Signature: 2/2

Tempo: 122 bpm


Guitar Tuning: E A D G B e

Skill Level: Beginner (easy chords)

Guitar Chords in C Major: C, F, G, Am

Capo: 3rd fret (to play along with the video in Eb Major)

Chord Chart Legend
C Major F Major F Major barre chord G Major Am
Lefties Chord Chart Legend
C Major-LH F Major-LH F Major barre chord-LH G Major-LH Am-LH

Goodbye Mrs Durkin

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key
                 C      G     G   F      C
Intro: 2/2  ♩ |     |      |    -    |       |
           
        C             G                      F        C
Chorus: Good-bye Mrs. Dur-kin   I'm sick and tired of work-in'
           Am                G                     F       C
        No more I'll dig the pra-ties   No long-er I'll be poor
           Am                 G                    F     C
        As sure as my name is Bar-ney   I'm off to Cal-i-for-ny
           Am                G                           F         C      G   F    C
        In-stead of dig-ging pra-ties   I'll be dig-ging lumps of |gold |   -   |     |

           C              G                        F        C
1. In the days when I was court-in'   I was nev-er tired re-sort-in'
          Am                G                         F        C
   To the ale-house and the play-house, and the other house be-sides
         Am               G                         F        C
   But I told my broth-er Sea-mus   "I'd be off now and grow fa-mous
          Am             G                          F           C
   And be-fore that I re-turn again   I'll roam the whole world wide."

                 C             G                      F        C 
Chorus: So it's, Good-bye Mrs. Dur-kin   I'm sick and tired of work-in'
           Am                G                     F       C
        No more I'll dig the pra-ties   No long-er I'll be poor
           Am                 G                    F     C
        As sure as my name is Bar-ney   I'm off to Cal-i-for-ny
           Am                G                           F         C      G   F    C
        In-stead of dig-ging pra-ties   I'll be dig-ging lumps of |gold |   -   |     |

              C                 G                     F       C
2. Well, I've court-ed girls in Blar-ney   In An-trim and Kil-lar-ney
      Am             G                    F        C
   In Dub-lin and in Ker-ry   Down to the coves of Cork
           Am                G                      F       C
   But I'm tired of all this plea-sure, so now I'll take my lei-sure
           Am                 G                             F        C
   And the next time that you hear from me   I'll write you from New York...


                 C             G                      F        C 
Chorus: So it's, Good-bye Mrs. Dur-kin   I'm sick and tired of work-in'
           Am                G                     F       C
        No more I'll dig the pra-ties   No long-er I'll be poor
           Am                 G                    F     C
        As sure as my name is Bar-ney   I'm off to Cal-i-for-ny
           Am                G                           F         C      G   F    C
        In-stead of dig-ging pra-ties   I'll be dig-ging lumps of |gold |   -   |     |

          C            G                  F         C
3. When I land-ed in A-mer-i-ca   I met a man named Burke 
      Am             G                           F       C
   He told me if I'd stay a while   He'd sure-ly find me work 
       Am             G                             F       C
   But work he didn't find me   So there's noth-ing here to bind me 
       Am                 G               F      C
   I'm bound for San Fran-cis-co   In Califor-ni-ay!


Replace the chorus with the following words if you prefer... Da da da da da da dee da...

                 C             G                      F        C 
Chorus: So it's, Good-bye Mrs. Dur-kin   I'm sick and tired of work-in'
           Am                G                     F       C
        No more I'll dig the pra-ties   No long-er I'll be poor
           Am                 G                    F     C
        As sure as my name is Bar-ney   I'm off to Cal-i-for-ny
           Am                G                           F        C
        In-stead of dig-ging pra-ties   I'll be dig-ging lumps of gold

             C               G                        F     C
4. Well, I'm now in San Fran-ci-sco   And my for-tune it is made 
      Am               G                             F      C
   My pock-ets load-ed down with gold   I'll throw a-way me spade 
           Am               G                         F      C
   I'll go back to dear old Er-in   Spend my for-tune nev-er car-in'
        Am               G                     F      C
   I'll mar-ry Queen Vic-tor-i'   Mrs. Dur-kin for to spite 

                 C             G                      F        C 
Chorus: So it's, Good-bye Mrs. Dur-kin   I'm sick and tired of work-in'
           Am                G                     F       C
        No more I'll dig the pra-ties   No long-er I'll be poor
           Am                 G                    F     C
        As sure as my name is Bar-ney   I'm off to Cal-i-for-ny
           Am                G                           F        C      G   F    C
        In-stead of dig-ging pra-ties   I'll be dig-ging lumps of gold |   -   |  𝄑  |

Song Details:

  • Songwriter: Unknown
  • Melody: Set to the traditional tune of 'Cailíní deasa Mhuigheo' (Pretty Girls of Mayo)
  • Lyrics Begin: Goodbye Mrs. Durkin, I'm sick and tired of workin'
  • Featured Artists: The Irish Rovers
  • Genre: Irish Folk Song
  • Album: The Unicorn
    Released: 1967 (US)
    Format: 12" Vinyl
    Label: Decca Records
Songs by The Irish Rovers on this site:
Back to Irish Folk Songs Back To Top
Contact Me

A seasoned performer joyfully playing the guitar