TWILIGHT ON THE TRAIL - chords and comments


With music by Louis Alter and lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell in 1935, the song was first recorded by Bing Crosby on March 24, 1936.

I first heard this as the title song for a 1959 album by Jimmie Rodgers [NOT the yodeling phenomenon, but James Frederick Rodgers (1933-2021)]. Latest, in 2018, the aussie artists Jen Mize and Mark Sholtez released an album with the same title and title song. In between first release and this one, comes about 60 more covers.

A cozy and jazzy song, that is. No more, no less. And every time I play this, I'm praising my late and elder cousin Trygve Pettersen, who with introducing this saved me from pop junk and led me into folk music and roots. That simple, good guy gave me a lifelong passion for this, at an early stage of life I was easily influenced.
...         G      Em      G
when it's twilight on the trail
            G7
and I jog along
     C
the world is like a dream
         Am           D7sus4 Cmaj7  G
and the ripple of the stream is my song

Bm                       Em         ...E7+9
never ever have a nickel in my jeans
Bm                        Em ...E7+9
never ever have a debt to pay
Bm                               Am
still I understand what real contentment means
Bm          Bdim       A7 ...D7sus4 ... D7
guess I was born that way
G major
G
G seventh
G7
E minor
Em
E seventh add nine
E7+9
C major
C
C major seventh
Cmaj7
D seventh
D7
D seventh suspended four
D7sus4
A minor
Am
A seventh
A7
B minor
Bm
B diminuished
Bdim