Chords with lyrics
Tuning: Standard (
E MajorE 
A augmentedA 
D MajorD 
G+G 
BB E MajorE)
Key: 
C majorC
Difficulty: Intermediate
The Ballad of Bart McGee - Dave Stamey
Verse 1:
C majorC 
FF C majorC
Come hear the story of Bart McGee,
G+G
Inyo County deputy 1873
FF C majorC 
A minorAm
Chavez gang was running wild, raising hell
C majorC G+G C majorC
Bart tracked 'em but things did not go well
A minorAm C majorC
Them bandits circled 'round and they caught him unaware
A minorAm G+G
Took him to their hideout, tied him to a chair
A minorAm C majorC
They spent the night talking 'bout the things they could do
G+G C majorC
To Bart McGee before they got through
A minorAm C majorC
Maybe they would skin him or drag him from a horse
A minorAm G+G
Maybe they would hang him, they might shoot him of course
A minorAm C majorC
Bart just sat there as if he hadn't heard,
G+G C majorC
Through it all he never said a word
Verse 2:
C majorC FF C majorC
Yeah this was desert country, all sagebrush and wind
G+G
Beyond the Saline Valley, where hopes run mighty thin
FF C majorC A minorAm
Them bandits drank their whiskey and just outside the door
C majorC G+G C majorC
Was a bronco mule they'd stole the day before.
A minorAm C majorC
Them bandits roped that mule and they tied to the shack
A minorAm G+G
Stripped ol' Bart naked and they stuck him on its back
A minorAm C majorC
And they turned him around 'til he was pointed East
G+G C majorC
And they tied his legs together underneath
A minorAm C majorC
They untied that mule and they slapped it on the rear
A minorAm G+G
It went crackin' through the sagebrush like a wild deer
A minorAm C majorC
They kept Bart's horse, his saddle and his guns
G+G C majorC
And they figure Bart McGee's days were done.
Verse 3:
C majorC FF C majorC
Well that mule tried to buck him off, and through the choya danced
G+G
Bart knew that stayin' with him, was his only chance
FF C majorC A minorAm
Ol' Bart had fought the Paiute and he'd killed a grizzly bear
C majorC G+G C majorC
And he could ride anything with hair
A minorAm C majorC
Well the sun burnt his naked butt and the wind chapped him dry
A minorAm G+G
And he broiled like bacon, underneath that desert sky
A minorAm C majorC
He'd slap that mule upside the head to turn him left or right
G+G C majorC
It was handlin' good when the moon come up that night
A minorAm C majorC
He made fifty miles, it ended none too soon
A minorAm G+G
He topped the hill at Cerro Gordo that next afternoon
A minorAm C majorC
The drunks outside the Gem Saloon could not believe their eyes
G+G C majorC
When a naked man on a mule trotted by.
Verse 4:
C majorC FF C majorC
We all asked what happened, Bart never said a word
G+G
He yanked out the cactus thorns, put ointment on his burns.
FF C majorC A minorAm
And he bought a horse and rifle and set out on his way
C majorC G+G C majorC
But what he meant to do he wouldn't say
A minorAm C majorC
A augmentedA week went by without a word and we all feared the worst
A minorAm G+G
Had them bandits got him, had he died of thirst?
A minorAm C majorC
Finally he come ridin' back leadin' his old horse
G+G C majorC
And he also had his hat and guns of course
A minorAm C majorC
And the robbin' and killin' all came to an end.
A minorAm G+G
Not one of that Chavez gang was ever seen again.
A minorAm C majorC
We asked Bart about it, and when we'd asked enough
G+G C majorC
He said "I just went back and got my stuff"
Refrain:
C majorC FF C majorC
Come hear the story of Bart McGee
G+G
Inyo County deputy 1873
FF C majorC A minorAm
And you know he kept that mule for the rest of its life
C majorC G+G C majorC
And he treated it better than some men treat their wives
A minorAm C majorC A minorAm G+G A minorAm C majorC G+G C majorC
Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, a a huh, uh huh, ohh ho oh oh, oh ohho oh oh
