32-20 Blues tab version 1 tab version 2 GuitarPro soundclip by Robert Johnson recording of 2nd of 5 sessions, November 26 1936, San Antonio, Texas from The Complete Recordings (CBS 467246 2 & Columbia/Legacy C2K-46222 & Columbia 4622 & Sony 64916), copyright notice
'F I send for my baby, and she don't come 'F I send for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Hot Springs1 sure can't help her none And if she gets unruly, thinks she don't wan' do And if she gets unruly and thinks she don't wan' do Take my 32-20, now, and cut her half in two She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light I got a 32-20, got to make the caps2 alright If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my gatling gun3 I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gotta shoot my gatling gun You made me love you, now your man have come Ahoh, baby, where you stayed last night Ahah, baby, where you stayed last night You got your hair all tangled and you ain't talking right Her .38 special, boys, it do very well Her .38 special, boys, it do very well I got a 32-20 now, and it's a burning If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come All the doctors in Wisconsin4 sure can't help her none Hey, hey, baby, where you stayed last night Hey, hey, baby, where you stayed last night You didn't come home until the sun was shining bright Ahoh boy, I just can't take my rest Ahoh boy, I just can't take my rest With this 32-20 laying up and down my breast

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General side-note:
An anonymous visitor wrote: "An interesting side-note to all of this is that while your site includes pictures of Johnson playing a wood-bodied acoustic guitar, his recordings seem to have been done with a brass bodied National resophonic guitar. Most people who carried handguns in those days preferred short-barreled .32S&W caliber revolvers (not to be confused with a 32-20) The body of a style “O” National was said to have been adequate to stop a bullet from one, thus increasing the instruments popularity among night-club performers." Thanks to the person submitting this suggestion.;

Note 1: Hot Springs, factually a place in Arkansas although an anonymous visitor wrote: "My guess about the term “Hot Springs”, given Johnson’s Faustian leanings, is that Hot Springs was a reference to Hell." Thanks to the person submitting this suggestion.;

Note 2: alternatively "camps" or "cats" instead of "caps". Though I'm convinced the correct word is caps (percussion caps, a paper or metal container holding an explosive charge, as for a pistol), I haven't been able to verify the absolute exact meaning of the phrase "got the make the caps". I think it means to make the right size persuccion caps for the caliber of the gun used.

An anonymous visitor wrote: "Make the caps” would be the correct term. In Johnson’s time, guns used modern ammunition, which did not require a separate percussion cap. The primer for a modern cartridge is integrated into the shell casing at the time the shell is assembled, whether at the factory, or at an individual’s re-loading bench. However, the primers used in modern ammunition are still often referred to as “caps”.
With modern ammunition (since the 1870’s), cartridge brass can be re-used many times, lead bullets can be cast from tire weights, and powder is so inexpensive the cost is not worth mentioning. However, primers, or caps, require a trip to the store. So to “bust a cap on” or “make a cap on” or simply “cap” someone meant that the shooter was mad enough at the intended victim to actually expend some capital. These terms have come back into popularity among urban gangs in recent years." Thanks to the person submitting this suggestion.

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Note 3: alternatively but not very likely "girl and gone" instead of "gatling gun".
A gatling gun is a machinegun or cannon with multiple, usually between 3 and 7, revolving barrels each fired once per revolution. By using multiple barrels the rate of fire could be raised (up to 4,300 and more rounds per minute) and/or the barrels would not be worn out as fast as with a single barreled weapon. Invented by the American Richard Gatling in 1867.

An anonymous visitor wrote: "Gatling” or “Gat” was a common slang term for a revolver in the 1920’s." Thanks to the person submitting this suggestion.;

Note 4: "32-20 Blues" is Robert Johnson's version of the Skip James song "22-20 blues", recorded in 1931, in Crafton, Wisconsin. Robert changed the reference to Wisconsin throughout the song to Hot Springs, Arkansas, except in the third from last verse when he forgets to do so and uses Skip's original text instead.