Hang On John chords by Gordon Bok

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Difficulty: Novice

Intro:
G

Verse:
            D        C
John Taylor left his native home
D                           G
After the whale-fish he did go
                  D                     C
From the Atlantic coast and around Cape Horn
       D                               G
To the South Seas where the whale-fish blow

Chorus:
         D    G   Bm
Oh it's, hang on, John
                     Am     G
Soon you'll see your native shore
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                       Am          G
You'll see Nantucket's shores once more

Verse:
                   D            C
Well, his boat was sunk and his luck bein' gone
        D                        G
Round a rocky island he made his home
                     D                       C
And he prayed and he hoped and he dreamed in vain
      D                       G
For a ship to carry him home again

Chorus:
          D    G   Bm
But it's, hang on, John
                     Am     G
Soon you'll see your native shore
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                       Am          G
You'll see Nantucket's shores once more

Verse:
                  D        C
An old man come a-walkin' along the beach
   D                          G
Harpoon in hand and a shining face
                D                   C
"I come from my home on the rolling sea
D                             G
Carry you back to your native place"

Chorus:
          D    G   Bm
So it's, hang on, John
                     Am     G
Soon you'll see your native shore
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                       Am          G
You'll see Nantucket's shores once more

Verse:
                         D              C
Well, they sang and they rowed and they sang and sailed
D                              G
Till they spied them a newborn whale
                   D                 C
And the old man harpooned him in the back
D                            G
Out to sea they hauled their slack

Chorus:
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                     Am     G
Soon you'll see your native shore
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                       Am          G
You'll see Nantucket's shores once more

Instrumental:
G

Verse:
                        D             C
Well, they had not been sailin' but a month or more
      D                            G
"Land ho!" was the old man's happy words
                 D             C
And John saw the cliffs risin' from the sea
D                          G
Heard the cry o' Nantucket birds

Chorus:
         D    G   Bm
Oh it's, hang on, John
                     Am     G
Soon you'll see your native shore
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                       Am          G
You'll see Nantucket's shores once more

Verse:
                 D                 C
Well, they never stopped when they reached dry ground
         D                                  G
But they hauled their slack into John's hometown
             D          C
And John got off at his own front door
D                                     G
Never saw the old man or the whale anymore

Chorus:
         D    G   Bm
Oh it's, hang on, John
                     Am     G
Soon you'll see your native shore
          D    G   Bm
And it's, hang on, John
                       Am          G
You'll see Nantucket's shores once more