Billy Jack Washburn chords by Johnny Paycheck

Chords with lyrics

Verse 1:

E MajorE                 A augmentedA         E MajorE
From Maine to San Francisco, for years, I rode the rails

E MajorE                      A augmentedA          E MajorE
Coast to coast, and border to border, I've been in about every jail

C majorC                   G+G
One night around the Golden Gate, I caught a freight, and layin' in the bottom of the boxcar was a man

         E MajorE
Named Billy Jack Washburn


Through the rain and the wind the train was flyin', I knew the man was layin' there dyin'

C majorC                 G+G                  D MajorD
I had to try and save a man, with nothin' but my two bare hands and I did

He was just a kid


Verse 2:

E MajorE                A augmentedA            E MajorE
Now me and Billy Jack, we laid around a few hobo camps for awhile

E MajorE                        A augmentedA             E MajorE
'Til Billy Jack got his strength back, and the sunshine gave him back his smile

C majorC                G+G                  D MajorD
We decided we would leave, and head on down to New Orleans, and we did


Me and the kid


But things weren't like they were before, I never had a friend jumpin' from the door

G+G                                      D MajorD
I treated him like I was his dad, and gave him everything I had, which was nothin'

C majorC                            D MajorD
Just the love for a friend, and a friend he was, 'til I lost him


Bridge:

B minorBm          A augmentedA
Billy Jack Washburn was his name

G+G                       D MajorD
I lost him down around Jacksonville, when he fell from the train

B minorBm          A augmentedA
I rolled off, and I hit the ground

G+G                   D MajorD
I picked his body up and carried him all the way back to town

C majorC         D MajorD
He was a friend of mine

Verse 3:

E MajorE                A augmentedA                E MajorE
Now here I am, in Macon, Georgia, to help lay Billy Jack in the ground

E MajorE               A augmentedA      E MajorE
And by the way, Macon, Georgia, is my hometown

C majorC                 G+G                 D MajorD
When I picked his billfold up, I saw a picture of his mama and her name


And I cried like a baby

C majorC                  D MajorD
'Cuz his mama, and my mama were the same

G+G                         C majorC                 D MajorD
Well I haven't been home in twenty-six years, and when I do come home, it has to be like this

G+G               C majorC        D MajorD
Sometimes old lady fate, she deals a terrible kiss


Bridge 2:

B minorBm              A augmentedA
Billy Jack Washburn was his so-called name

G+G                       D MajorD
I lost him down around Jacksonville, when he fell from the train

C majorC            G+G
But I lost more than a friend

C majorC             D MajorD
I'll never see my brother again