The Highwayman Album chords by The Highwaymen
Guitar chords with lyrics
- Capo on 2nd
- Difficulty: Advanced 🤯
# Title ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.) Highwayman 2.) The Last Cowboy Song 3.) Jim I Wore a Tie Today 4.) Big River 5.) Committed to Parkview 6.) Desperados Waiting for a Train 7.) Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) 8.) Welfare Line 9.) Against the Wind 10.) The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.) "Highwayman"
!: Capo on 2nd fret !:
Intro:
Am
Verse 1:
Am G F Am
I was a highwayman, along the coach roads I did ride
G F C G
With sword and pistol by my side
Dm Am G F
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Dm Am G F
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
Am G F G C
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
F G
But I am still alive
Verse 2:
Am G F Am
I was a sailor
I was born upon the tide
G F G
And with the sea
I did abide
Dm Am G F
I sailed a schooner around the horn to Mexico
Dm Am G F
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
Am G F G C
And when the yards broke off, they said that I got killed
F G
But I'm living still
Verse 3:
Am G F Am
I was a dam builder, across a river deep and wide
G F G
Where steel and water did collide
Dm Am G F
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
Dm Am G F
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
Am G F G C
They buried me in that gray tomb that knows no sound
F G
But I am still around
Chorus:
C G Am G F C Dm F G C
I'll always be around, and around, and around, and around, and around, and around
Verse 4:
Am G F Am
I fly a starship across the universe divide
G F G
And when I reach the other side
Dm Am G F
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Dm Am G F
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Am G F C
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
F G
But I will remain
Chorus:
C G Am G F C Dm F G C
And I'll be back again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again
------------------------------------------------------------------
2.) "The Last Cowboy Song"
Intro:
D
Chorus:
D
This is the last cowboy song
G
The end of a hundred year waltz
A7
The voices sound sad as they're singing along
D
Another piece of America's lost
Verse 1:
D
He rides the feed lots, clerks in a market
A7
On weekends selling tobacco and beer
A7
And his dreams of tomorrow, surrounded by fences
D
But he'll dream tonight of when fences weren't here
Verse 2:
D
He blazed the trail with Lewis and Clark
A7
And eyeball to eyeball, old Wyatt backed down
A7
He stood shoulder to shoulder with Travis in Texas
D
And rode with the Seventh when Custer went down
Chorus:
D
This is the last cowboy song
G
The end of a hundred year waltz
A7
The voices sound sad as they're singing along
D
Another piece of America's lost
Verse 3:
D
Remington showed us how he looked on canvas
A7
And Louis L'Amour has told us his tale
A7
Me and Johnny and Waylon and Kris sing about him
D
And wish to God we could have ridden his trail
Verse 4:
D
The old Chisholm Trail is covered in concrete now
G
And they truck 'em to market in fifty foot rigs
A7
They roll by his marker and don't even notice
D
Like living and dying was all he ever did
Chorus:
D
This is the last cowboy song
G
The end of a hundred year waltz
A7
The voices sound sad as they're singing along
D
Another piece of America's lost
D
This is the last cowboy song
G
The end of a hundred year waltz
A7
The voices sound sad as they're singing along
D
Another piece of America's lost
------------------------------------------------------------------
3.) "Jim
I Wore a Tie Today"
Intro:
C G7 C G7
Verse 1:
C G7 F C
Jim
Jim
I wore a tie today
F G7
The first one that I ever wore
C C7 F
You have said that I looked like a dummy
D7 G7
Out of a dry goods store
Verse 2:
C G7 F C
Oh
Jim
Jim, the preacher said a lot of things
F G7
But I didn't hear a word he said
C C7 F
My mind kept wandering back down the trail
C G7 C
Back to the good times we had
Pre-Chorus:
G7 C
Riding herd through the sun and the rain
G7 C
Panning for gold on the cuff
G7 C
We did everything in the books
I guess
D7 G7
And a lot that they never thought up
Chorus:
C G7 F C
Oh Jim
Jim so you're riding on ahead
F G7
Well, if that's how it's going to be
C C7 F
When you reach those streets paved with gold
C G7 C G7
Jim, stake a claim out for me
Verse 4:
C G7 F
We did everything we could do for you
Jim, but
C
Your fever just wouldn't go down
F
So we put you in the wagon
Jim
G7
And this morning we got you back to town
C C7
But when we got here, you were gone
Jim
F
And there wasn't anything anybody could do
C G7
They dressed you up in a fancy suit and a necktie
C
So today, we wore one too
Pre-Chorus:
G7 C
Riding herd through the sun and the rain
G7 C
Panning for gold on the cuff
G7 C
We did everything in the books
I guess
D7 G7
And a lot that they never thought up
Chorus:
C G7 F C
Oh Jim
Jim so you're riding on ahead
F G7
Well, if that's how it's going to be
C C7 F
When you reach those streets paved with gold
C G7 C G7 C G7 C
Jim, stake a claim out for me
------------------------------------------------------------------
4.) "Big River"
Intro:
E
Chorus:
E
I taught the weeping willow how to cry, cry, cry
F# B7
And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear, blue sky
E A7
And the tears I cried for that woman are gonna flood you, big river
E B7 E
And I'm gonna sit right here until I die
Verse 1:
E
I met her accidentally in St. Paul
Minnesota
F# B7
And it tore me up every time I heard her drawl, southern drawl
E A7
And I heard my dream went back downstream, cavorting in Davenport
E B7 E
And I followed you, big river, when she called
Break:
E A E B7 E
Verse 2:
E
Oh, she took me to St. Louis later on, down the river
F# B7
A freighter said, "She's been here, but she's gone, boy, she's gone"
E A7
And I found her trail in Memphis, but she just walked up the block
E B7 E
Raised a few eyebrows and went on down alone
Verse 3:
E
Well
I pulled into Natchez next day, down the river
F# B7
But there wasn't much there to make the rounders stay very long
E A7
When I left, it was raining, so nobody saw me cry
E B7 E
Big river, why's she doing me this way?
Break:
E A E B7 E
Verse 4:
E
Now, won't you batter down by Baton Rouge
River Queen, roll it on
F# B7
Take that woman on down to New Orleans
New Orleans
E A7
Go on
I've had enough, dump my blues down in the gulf
E B7 E
She loves you, big river, more than me
Chorus:
E
I taught the weeping willow how to cry, cry, cry
F# B7
And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky
E A7
And the tears I cried for that woman are gonna flood you, big river
E B7 E
And I'm gonna sit right here until I die
------------------------------------------------------------------
5.) "Committed to Parkview"
Verse 1:
N.C. A E7
There's a man across the hall who sits staring at the floor
A
He thinks he's Hank Williams, hear him singing through the door
D A
Theres a girl in 203 who stops by to visit me
B7 E7
And she talks about her songs and the star that she should be
A D
There are lots of special people staying in or passing through
A D A D A
And for one thing or another, committed to Parkview
Verse 2:
A E7
Theres a girl in 307 coming down on Thorazine
A
And a superstar's ex-drummer trying to kick Benzedrine
D A
There's a boy just down below me who's the son of some well-known
B7 E7
He was brought in by his mother 'cause his daddy's always gone
A D
Theres a bum from down on Broadway and a few quite well-to-do
A D A D A
Who have withdrawn from the rat race and committed to Parkview
Verse 3:
A E7
There's a girl who cries above me loud enough to wake the dead
A
They don't know what she has taken that has scrambled up her head
D A
There's a writer and a singer who has tried and tried and tried
B7 E7
They just brought him in this morning, an attempted suicide
A D
There are those who never made it, those who did but now are through
A D A D A
Some came of their own good choosing, some committed to Parkview
Verse 4:
A E7
They wake us about 6:30, just before the morning meal
A
While they're taking blood pressure, they ask us how we feel
D A
And I always say, "Fantastic, there ain't nothing wrong with me"
B7 E7
And then they give me my injection and I go right back to sleep
A D
And my days are kind of foggy and the nights are dreamy too
N.C. A D A D A
But they're taking good care of me, committed to Parkview
------------------------------------------------------------------
6.) "Desperados Waiting for a Train"
Intro:
D G A7
D G A7
Verse 1:
D C G/B
I'd play the Red River Valley
A Bm
And he'd sit out in the kitchen and cry
G Em D Bm
And run his fingers through seventy years of living
G Em A
And wonder, "Lord, has every well I drilled run dry "
A7 D
We were friends, me and this old man
Chorus:
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
G D/F# Em Asus4 A
Verse 2:
D C G/B
He's a drifter and a driller of oil wells
A Bm
And an old school man of the world
G Em D Bm
He'd let me drive his car when he's too drunk to
G Em A
And he'd wink and give me money for the girls
A7 D
And our lives were like some old western movie
Chorus:
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
G D/F# Em Asus4 A
Verse 3:
D C G/B
From the time that I could walk, he'd take me with him
A Bm
To a bar called the Green Frog Café
G Em D Bm
And there were old men with beer guts and dominoes
G Em A
Lying about their lives while they'd play
A7 D
And I was just a kid, they called his sidekick
Chorus:
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
G D/F# Em Asus4 A
Verse 4:
D C G/B
One day I looked up and he's pushing eighty
A Bm
And there's brown tobacco stains all down his chin
G Em D Bm
To me he's one of the heroes of this country
G Em A
So why's he all dressed up like them old men?
A7 D
Drinking beer and playing Moon and Forty-Two
Chorus:
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
G D/F# Em Asus4 A
Verse 5:
D C G/B
The day before he died
I went to see him
A Bm
I was grown and he was almost gone
G Em D Bm
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen
G Em A
And sang another verse to that old song
A7 D
Come on
Jack, that son-of-a-gun's a-coming
Chorus:
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
Bm G
Like desperadoes waiting for a train
------------------------------------------------------------------
7.) "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)"
!: Capo on 5th fret !:
Intro:
C G D7 G
Verse 1:
C G
The crops are all in and the peaches are rotten
D7 G
The oranges are packed in the creosote dumps
C G
They're flying them back to the Mexican border
D7 G
To save all their money, then wade back again
Verse 2:
C D
My father's own father, he waded that river
D7 G
Others before him have done just the same
C G
They died in the hills and they died in the valleys
D7 G
Some went to heaven without any name
Chorus:
C G
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
D D7 G
Adios mi amigo
Jesus y Maria
C G
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
D7 G
All they will call you will be "Deportee"
Interlude:
C G D7 G
Verse 3:
C G
Some of us are illegal and others not wanted
D7 G
Our work contracts out and we have to move on
C G
Six hundred miles to the Mexican border
D7 G
They chase us like rustlers, like outlaws, like thieves
Chorus:
C G
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
D D7 G
Adios mi amigos
Jesus y Maria
C G
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
D7 G
All they will call you will be "Deportee"
Interlude:
G C G
D7 G
C G
D7 G
Verse 4:
G C G
The sky-plane caught fire over Los Gatos canyon
D7 G
A fireball of thunder that shook all the hills
C G
Who are all of these dear friends, scattered like dry leaves
D7 G
The radio said they were just deportees
Chorus:
C G
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
D D7 G
Adios mi amigos
Jesus y Maria
C G
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
D7 G
All they will call you will be "Deportee"
C G
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
D D7 G
Adios mi amigos
Jesus y Maria
C G
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
D7 N.C. G
All they will call you will be "Deportee"
------------------------------------------------------------------
8.) "Welfare Line"
Intro:
D
Verse 1:
D
Well now, boys
I've been to Bethlehem
G
Rode there on a big steam train
D
Lost two fingers in the steel mills
A7 D
And I ain't goin' back again
Verse 2:
D
I fought for my country
G
Lord knows I did my best
D
Crawling 'cross some foreign field
A7 D
They pinned a ribbon to my chest
Chorus:
G
So, pass around the bottle, boys
D
Let's talk about old times
D
Night's rolling in, it's cold as sin
A7 D
Here on the welfare line
Verse 3:
D
Served on the Georgia Road Gang
G
Couldn't pay the debts I owe
D
'Cause I ain't made of silver
A7 D
And I ain't never seen no gold
Verse 4:
D
I still remember Rachel
G
Soft as a velvet gown
D
They laid her in the pauper's grave
A7 D
On the other side of town
Chorus:
G
So, pass around the bottle, boys
D
Let's talk about old times
D
Night's rolling in, it's cold as sin
A7 D
Here on the welfare line
Interlude:
D G D A7 D
Verse 5:
D
Now some folks are born to money
G
You know I wish 'em well
D
If the devil should ever want my soul
A7 D
I swear I'd never sell
Chorus:
G
So, pass around the bottle, boys
D
Let's talk about old times
D
Night's rolling in, it's cold as sin
A7 D
Here on the welfare line
G
Pass around the bottle, boys
D
Let's talk about old times
D
Night's rolling in, it's cold as sin
A7 D
Here on the welfare line
------------------------------------------------------------------
9.) "Against the Wind"
Intro:
E
Verse 1:
E
It seems like yesterday
G#m
But it was long ago
A E
She was lovely, she was the queen of our nights
B7 A E
There in the darkness, with the radio playing low
E
The secrets that we shared
G#m
The mountains that we moved
A E
Caught like a wildfire and out of control
A B7
There was nothin' left to burn and nothin' left to prove
Pre-Chorus:
C#m B E
And I remember what she said to me
C#m A E
How she swore that it would never end
C#m B A
I remember how she held me, oh, so tight
B7
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
Chorus:
E G#m
Against the wind
A E
We were running against the wind
A G#m
We were young and strong
F#m A E
But just running against the wind
Verse 2:
E
The years rolled slowly past
G#m
I found myself alone
A E
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
B7 A E
I found myself further and further from my home
E
I guess I lost my way
C#m
There were, oh, so many roads
A E
I was living to run and running to live
A B7
Never worrying about paying or how much I owed
Pre-Chorus:
C#m B E
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
C#m A E
Breaking all the rules I could bend
C#m B A
I began to find myself searching
B7
Searching for shelter again and again
Chorus:
E G#m
Against the wind
A E
We were running against the wind
A G#m F#m A E
I found myself seeking shelter against the wind
Interlude:
E G#m A E A B7
Pre-Chorus:
C#m B E
All those drifter's days are past me now
C#m A E
I've got so much more to think about
C#m B A
Deadlines and commitments
B7
What to leave in, what to leave out
Chorus:
E G#m
Against the wind
A E
We were running against the wind
A G#m F#m A E
We found ourselves seeking shelter against the wind
A G#m B7
Outro:
A
Against the wind
E A
Against the wind
E
Against the wind
------------------------------------------------------------------
10.) "The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over"
Intro:
E
Verse 1:
E A E
Back in 1899, everybody sang Auld Lang Syne
E
A hundred years would take a long, long time
B7
For every little boy and girl
E
Now there's just one thing that I would like to know
A A7 E
Where did the twentieth century go?
B7 E
I swear it was there just a minute ago, all over this world
Chorus:
A E A E
All over this world, all over this world
B7 E
The twentieth century is almost over, all over this world
Verse 2:
E
Does anybody recall the Great Depression?
A E
I read all about it in the True Confession
E
Sorry I was late for the recording session
B7
But somebody put me on hold
E
Did anybody see them linoleum floors
A A7 E
Petroleum jelly and two world wars?
B7 E
They went around in revolving doors, all over this world
Chorus:
A E A E
All over this world, all over this world
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
Almost over, almost over
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
All over this world
Verse 3:
E
Old father time is a-rumbling and a-rapping
A E
Standing at the window thumping and a-tapping
E
Everybody's waiting for something to happen
B7
I hope it don't happen to you
E
You know the judgement day is gettin' nearer
A A7 E
There it is in the rear-view mirror
B7 E
If you duck down I could see a little clearer, all over this world
Chorus:
A E A E
All over this world, all over this world
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
Almost over, almost over
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
All over this world
Outro Chorus:
A E A E
All over this world, all over this world
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
Almost over, almost over
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
All over this world
A E A E
All over this world, all over this world
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
Almost over, almost over
E
The twentieth century is almost over
B7 E
All over this world
A E A E
All over this world, all over this world Published:
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