The Preacher And The Bear chords by The New Christy Minstrels

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

A realy fun song.  (See performance notes below0.

Verse 1:
          C                      C7
Well, the Preacher he went out a-walkin'
       F             C
It was on one Sunday morn.

Course it was a'gin his religion
       D7             G7
But he took his gun a-long.
   C                 C7
He shot himself some mighty fine quail
    F                 C
And one little measly hare.
    F             C    E7  A7
But on his way re-turn-in' home,
         D7               G7      C
He met a great big, hmmm, grizzly bear.

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

And the Preacher he commenced a-shakin'
       D7                    G
And he climbed up a sycamore tree.
          C                    C7
Well, the bear stood up and he rolled his eyes
       F              C
And he shook his ugly head.
    F                  C  E   A7
The Preacher looked up to the skies
    D7            G7       C
And these are the words he said:
     D7            G7       C
(And these are the words he said)


Chorus:
    C
Oh, Lord, You delivered Daniel from the lion's den,
                         D7                     G
Delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then
    C                      C7
The Hebrew chil'n from the fiery furnace,
       F               C
Oh the Good Book do de-clare.
      F                  C     E7   A7
Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
             D7             G7        C
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!
                                E7   A7
(Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
             D7             G7        C
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!)


Verse 2:
          C             C7
Well, the bear began to climb the tree
         F                 C
And that made the Preacher sore.

The Preacher climbed still higher,
        D7                G7
'til he couldn't climb no more.
C                   C7
Just about then the limb gave away
         F                    C
And they both come a-tumblin' down.
    F              C   E7 A7
The Preacher he be-gan to pray
              D7           G7      C
And you could hear him for miles a-round.


Chorus:
    C
Oh, Lord, You delivered Daniel from the lion's den,
                         D7                     G
Delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then
    C                      C7
The Hebrew chil'n from the fiery furnace,
       F               C
Oh the Good Book do de-clare.
      F                  C     E7   A7
Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
             D7             G7        C
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!
                                E7   A7
(Well, Lord, Lord, if you can't help me,
             D7             G7        C
For goodness sake, don't ya help that bear!)


Verse 3:
           C                              C7
Well, they fought all the way down to the river
    F                 C
And it was a terrible fight.

That bear was really layin' it on,
        D7                             G7
But the Preacher, well he was doin' al-right.
   C                        C7
He dragged that beast right down in the water,
       F                  C
It was three times in and out.
         F                     C      E7 A7
Then the bear got loose and he limped a--way,
        D7             G7     C
And the Preacher he be-gan to shout:


Chorus 2:

    C
Oh, Lord, You delivered Daniel from the lion's den,
                         D7                     G
Delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale and then...
    C                C7
Now Lord, it may not seem like much
     F                C
From where You sit up there,
        F             C  E7 A7
But the hardest job I ev-er done was
D7  G7          C
Bap-tizin' that bear!
          F             C  E7 A7
Yeah, the hardest job I ev-er done was
D7  G7          C
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!