The Mysterious Stranger
Picking up the phantom hitchhiker.
[Introduction] 1. C Q. When I was in New York recently, D Someone mentioned a "phantom hitchhiker" who E Supposedly haunts the Am New York State Thruway. F Sounds weird; Em What's the story? Dm Bb G C B. A., Des Plaines
2. C A: For the last five years, D The story has surfaced periodically E Of a young, beared man Am Dressed all in white F Who thumbs rides along Em Dm Bb G the thruway.
3. C When the fellow is given a lift, D the story goes, E He begins talking about Am religion -- F Then disappears Em from the car Dm During the Bb Bdim conversation
4. C Dr Lydia Fish D of Buffalo State College E Is studying stories Am of the phantom. F So far she has collected More than Em sixty reports of Dm7 G The Mysterious Stranger
[The Mysterious Stranger] 5. [Slow & sultry -- hot] C Sunday Chicago -- D out in the street E People out walkin' Am around in the heat F So many you meet Em Who don't give Dm Bb Bdim any of themselves
6. [Driving, rising heat] C Summer-bound city -- D out for a drive E The people are dead Am but the city's alive F The city's a hive. Em It's pretty if Dm Bb Bdim you're just driving by
[Bridge #1] Cmaj7 Passing the towers Dm7 that crowd by the lake Ebmaj7 Thinking how much all this Dbmaj7 C city seems fake.
7. C One person hitchhiking D -- going somewhere E In a dress and old sandals Am a beard and long hair F I stop to help him Em in spite of my fear Dm He gets in my car but Bb Bdim he gets in the rear
8. C We don't say much D after we say hello E Wondering why I stopped Am -- How this will go F I'm getting nervous Em and light up a smoke Dm When my passenger Bb Bdim finally spoke (he said:)
9. C "Sunday Chicago -- D what can a man do? E I'd be glad to help if Am I just had a clue. F So many of you who Em Dm Don't give any Bb Bdim of yourselves.
10. C "Bummer-bound city -- D my friend I perceive E You are the kind who Am would like to believe. F If you will receive Ebmaj7 Your God in your heart Dm7 You can begin G To play your part."
11. C Something inside of me D started to burn E When he asked, "Do you believe Am Christ will return?" F I looked in the mirror Em -- he wasn't behind! Dm The whole thing must have been Bb produced by my mind.
[Bridge to end] Cmaj7 Sunday Chicago -- Dm7 It's all been reborn Ebmaj7 Ever since Dmaj7 C that morning.
"The vanishing hitchhiker (or phantom hitchhiker) is a reported phenomenon in which people travelling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle. Vanishing hitchhikers have been reported for centuries and the story is found across the world, in many variants...."
Vanishing Hitchhiker in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_hitchhiker
"...Lydia M. Fish of the State University College of New York at Buffalo discovered in more than sixty texts she and her students collected locally that the current hitchhiker is likely to be "a beautiful young hippie clad in shining white" who engages his host or hosts in a conversation about Jesus and His Second Coming before disappearing. Sometimes he even leaves his seat belt buckled up..."
The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Jan Harold Brunvand, 1981
http://bernd.wechner.info/Hitchhiking/vanish.html
"The core story concerns a traveller who offers a ride to a vulnerable-looking pedestrian, only to find his passenger has disappeared without trace. Later investigations reveal that the passenger was a supernatural entity, not a living human being at all."
The Vanishing Hitchhiker at Fifty-Five by Gillian Bennett
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3732/is_199801/ai_n8801434
Although stories of "vanishing hitchhikers" in Chicago date back to the horse and buggy days, Marys tale begins in the 1930s. It was around this time that drivers along Archer Avenue started reporting strange encounters with a young woman in a white dress.
Resurrection Mary -- Chicago's Most Elusive Ghost by Troy Taylor
http://www.prairieghosts.com/resurcem.html
Chicago's Other Vanishing Hitchhikers! The Flapper Ghost & Others! by Troy Taylor
http://www.prairieghosts.com/flapper.html
Phantom Hitchhiker on Google Image Search
http://images.google.com/images?q=phantom+hitchhiker