The Preacher And The Bear chords by The New Christy Minstrels

Chords with lyrics

Tuning: Standard (E MajorE A augmentedA D MajorD G+G BB E MajorE)

A augmentedA realy fun song. (See performance notes below0.

Verse 1:
     C majorC           C7C7
Well, the Preacher he went out a-walkin'
    FF       C majorC
It was on one Sunday morn.

Course it was a'gin his religion
    D7D7       G7G7
But he took his gun a-long.
  C majorC         C7C7
He shot himself some mighty fine quail
  FF         C majorC
And one little measly hare.
  FF       C majorC  E7E7 A7A7
But on his way re-turn-in' home,
     D7D7        G7G7   C majorC
He met a great big, hmmm, grizzly bear.

Chorus:
C majorC
Well, the bear sat down in the middle of the road
   G+G        C majorC
Just mean as he could be

And the Preacher he commenced a-shakin'
    D7D7          G+G
And he climbed up a sycamore tree.
     C majorC          C7C7
Well, the bear stood up and he rolled his eyes
    FF       C majorC
And he shook his ugly head.
  FF         C majorC E MajorE  A7A7
The Preacher looked up to the skies
  D7D7      G7G7    C majorC
And these are the words he said:
   D7D7      G7G7    C majorC
(And these are the words he said)


Chorus:
  C majorC
Oh, Lord, You delivered Daniel from the lion's den,
             D7D7           G+G
Delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then
  C majorC           C7C7
The Hebrew chil'n from the fiery furnace,
    FF        C majorC
Oh the Good Book do de-clare.
   FF         C majorC   E7E7  A7A7
Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
       D7D7       G7G7    C majorC
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!
                E7E7  A7A7
(Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
       D7D7       G7G7    C majorC
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!)

Verse 2:
     C majorC       C7C7
Well, the bear began to climb the tree
     FF         C majorC
And that made the Preacher sore.

The Preacher climbed still higher,
    D7D7        G7G7
'til he couldn't climb no more.
C majorC          C7C7
Just about then the limb gave away
     FF          C majorC
And they both come a-tumblin' down.
  FF       C majorC  E7E7 A7A7
The Preacher he be-gan to pray
       D7D7      G7G7   C majorC
And you could hear him for miles a-round.


Chorus:
  C majorC
Oh, Lord, You delivered Daniel from the lion's den,
             D7D7           G+G
Delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then
  C majorC           C7C7
The Hebrew chil'n from the fiery furnace,
    FF        C majorC
Oh the Good Book do de-clare.
   FF         C majorC   E7E7  A7A7
Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
       D7D7       G7G7    C majorC
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!
                E7E7  A7A7
(Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
       D7D7       G7G7    C majorC
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!)


Verse 3:
      C majorC               C7C7
Well, they fought all the way down to the river
  FF         C majorC
And it was a terrible fight.

That bear was really layin' it on,
    D7D7               G7G7
But the Preacher, well he was doin' al-right.
  C majorC            C7C7
He dragged that beast right down in the water,
    FF         C majorC
It was three times in and out.
     FF           C majorC   E7E7 A7A7
Then the bear got loose and he limped a--way,
    D7D7       G7G7   C majorC
And the Preacher he be-gan to shout:


Chorus 2:

  C majorC
Oh, Lord, You delivered Daniel from the lion's den,
             D7D7           G+G
Delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then...
  C majorC        C7C7
Now Lord, it may not seem like much
   FF        C majorC
From where You sit up there,
    FF       C majorC E7E7 A7A7
But the hardest job I ev-er done was
D7D7 G7G7     C majorC
Bap-tizin' that bear!
     FF       C majorC E7E7 A7A7
Yeah, the hardest job I ev-er done was
D7D7 G7G7     C majorC
Bap-tizin' that bear!


Given its topic, its great for informal church or church camp fireside settings, but it also plays
well to secular audiences.
It's performed in an almost "talking blues" sort of fashion for the verses with the chords
being played at a faster tempo with the performer half-singing, half speaking the words.
The tempo is free for interpretation, but the verses are slow while it speeds up and is
steady during most of the chorus.
The last line of the verse and 8th line of chorus retard quite a bit with a pause at the end for dramatic
effect.
The line echoes shown in parentheses () are best suited for perfomances with a large group, such as in
The New Christy Mintrels' version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMN4ol3gAIo&list=PLwAzFeSc2miF2e_NA-8IKMSqIKxWtIJsU&index=2
However, for solo performances, the echoes can be eliminated.
Enjoy and have fun!