Eyolf Østrem

Intro: Gm7  F   C   G

G
I am a lonesome hobo

Without family or friends,

Where another man's life might begin,

That's exactly where mine ends.

I have tried my hand at bribery,

Blackmail and deceit,
                D        C    G
And I've served time for ev'rything
      C       D      G
'Cept beggin' on the street.

Well, once I was rather prosperous,
There was nothing I did lack.
I had fourteen-karat gold in my mouth

     G                      *
"Oh, help me in my weakness,"
            C/g     G     *
I heard the drifter say,
        G
As they carried him from the courtroom
                C/g  G     *
And were taking him away.
    G
"My trip hasn't been a pleasant one
               C/g         *
And my time it isn't long,

And I still do not know
                 C/g       G
What it was that I've done wrong."

Well, the judge, he cast his robe aside,

      G               Bm
Well, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,
     Am               G
They were the best of friends.
                           Bm
So when Frankie Lee needed money one day,
      Am                           G
Judas quickly pulled out a roll of tens
                     Bm
And placed them on a footstool
     Am                G
Just above the plotted plain,
        G                Bm
Sayin', "Take your pick, Frankie Boy,

Am             G        F           G Am              G         F    G
"There must be some way out of here,"  said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.

C
I dreamed I saw St. Augustine,
 F              C
Alive as you or me,

Tearing through these quarters
       D7         F
In the utmost misery,
       C
With a blanket underneath his arm
      F
And a coat of solid gold,
C         /b      Am   C/g
Searching for the very souls
       F               C
Whom already have been sold.

"Arise, arise," he cried so loud,
With a voice without restraint,
"Come out, ye gifted kings and queens

Intro: F   C   Dm

   Dm             C
As I went out one morning
               Dm   C         Dm
To breathe the air around Tom Paine's,
  Dm                C
I spied the fairest damsel
     Dm       C       Dm
That ever did walk in chains.
  F              Am
I offer'd her my hand,
    Dm      C      Dm
She took me by the arm.
  Dm             C
I knew that very instant,
    Dm       C     Dm
She meant to do me harm.

[Harmonica as intro]

C
John Wesley Harding
      F      G      C
Was a friend to the poor,
   C                            Dm    F   G
He trav'led with a gun in ev'ry hand.
C
All along this countryside,
   F      G      C
He opened many a door,
           C
But he was never known
   F       G      C
To hurt an honest man.

'Twas down in Chaynee County,
A time they talk about,
With his lady by his side
He took a stand.
And soon the situation there

Nashville Skyline version

The little thing that occurs here and there (marked with a *) in the song):

Album version

 E                B                A  E/g# F#m E
|--------7-------|--------2-------|----------------|
|9-----9---9-----|4-----4---4-----|2---0-----------|
|9---9-------9---|4---4-------4---|2---1---2---1---|
|9---------------|4---------------|2---2---4---2---|
|7---------------|2---------------|0-------4---2---|
|----------------|----------------|----4---2---0---|

E      G#
Hazel, dirty-blonde hair
A                           F#7
I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen with you anywhere.
E                   G#          C#m   E/b  A