CAPO: 2nd Fret
INTRO: Am
In the valley by the river, we
had a little land
It wasn’t much to speak of, what we
had was by our hands
But the
banker took it from us, at the
end of two dry
years
Left
nothing but the dust
, watered
by my mother’s te
ars
With all the rage that
burned inside me, I
rode into that town
And
with my father’s rifle, I
shot that banker down
And this
isn’t like the story books,
there’ll be no reprieve
When they
take me out before the morning
sun
The judge was looking at me, when he
brought the gavel
down
It
echoed off the pillars, “By
law son you are bound”
Then be
hind those iron bars, a
lone to face my
self
With
the building of the scaf
fold, outside my
quiet prison cell
I can
hear the hammers pounding, I can
feel my blood awaken
To a
thousand freight trains running through my
mind
This
isn’t like the story books,
there’ll be no reprieve
When they
take me out before the morning
sun
My father said, “Son, we’ll
love you ’til the end
”
My
mother turned and hid her face, as the
preacher man stepped in
He said, “
Know that god will judge you, and
know that you have
sinned.”
The long
shadow of the gal
lows,
spanned my prison cell
It made a
cross upon the preacher'
s back, a
hardened man’s farew
ell
I can
hear the footsteps coming now, they’re
right outside my door
With a
single church bell, ringing out of time
This
isn’t like the story books, and
now the hour has come
When they
take me out
before the morning
sun
With my
calloused hands behind me, like those
fields in my memory
I’m
staring straight, into a clear ho
ri–
zon
This
isn’t like the story books, and now the
moment’s come and gone
They
hang me out to face the morning
sun
They
hang me out before the morning s
un
OUTRO: G F C G E7 Am
Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh