Decent Man chords by James Mcmurtry

Intro:

D  G A
D  G A



Verse 1:
D                                   G
 He was more than just a decent man, best friend I ever had
D                          A             G                  A
 When you're shooting at a coffee can, a thirty eight don't kick that bad
G                  A                D
But it kicks right through my bones every second of every day
G                                          A
 Clacking by like cobblestones under broken wheels

Verse 2:
D                           G
 And if the truth be known
I wasn't doing that well
D                           G            A
 I wasn't paying attention
I brought it on myself
      G                A                   D
And I blamed it on the gods that seemed to smile on everybody else
G                    A
 I got so inside out
I didn't know what was real

Chorus:
G     A              Bm  A  G
 My fields are empty now
       A                 Bm
My ground won't take the plow
D     G              A          Bm
 It's washed down to gravel and stones
D     G             A       D
 It's only good for burying bones

Instrumental:
D  G  A
D  G

Verse 3:
D                  A             G                   A
 I took the pistol off the wall, somebody hollered, "Put it back
D                                         G              A
 Sit down, dad, before you fall down, you got no earthly use for that"
G                      A            D               Bm
 But I slipped out the kitchen door, saddled up the sway backed mule
G                                     A
 Cinched her tight and swung on board, rode off like a drunken fool

Verse 4:
G              A              D
 Rode right on off the world, just like it never mattered none
G                                          A
 There wasn't nothing but me and the hurt, and the biting cold, and the heft of that gun
G                  A              D               Bm
In the pocket of a sheepskin coat, moonlight in a madman's eye
G                             A
 For the unfairness of it all, surely something had to die

Chorus:
G     A              Bm  A  G
 My fields are empty now
       A                 Bm
My ground won't take the plow
D     G              A          Bm
 It's washed down to gravel and stones
D     G             A       D
 It's only good for burying bones

Instrumental:
G  A  D
G  A  Bm  A
G  A  D  Bm
G  A


Bridge:
D                                  G
 He came out in the lantern light, his face in the flash was the last I saw
D                                     G         A
 Of the world when it was still right
I didn't watch it fall
G           A             D                      Bm
 I knew I'd hit him good, twice in the chest without a thought
G                                         A
 Turned the mule towards the county seat, like I knew I ought

Chorus:
G     A              Bm  A  G
 My fields are empty now
       A                 Bm
My ground won't take the plow
D     G              A          Bm
 It's washed down to gravel and stones
D     G             A       D
 It's only good for burying bones

Chorus:
G     A              Bm  A  G
 My fields are empty now
       A                 Bm
My ground won't take the plow
D     G              A          Bm
 It's washed down to gravel and stones
D     G             A       D
 It's only good for burying bones

Instrumental:
D  G A
D A G A

Verse 5:
D                 A  G            A
Lola comes to visit, just nothing I can say
D                                     G               A
We sit here of an afternoon 'til it's time for her to go away
G                      A              D                  Bm
She rides home on that same mule that brought me to this place
G                                 A
Don't know how she even stands to look upon her daddy's face

Verse 6:

D                                   G
 He was more than just a decent man, best friend I ever had
D                          A             G                  A
 When you're shooting at a coffee can, a thirty eight don't kick that bad

Outro:
G A D