The Highwayman chords by Phil Ochs

Chords with lyrics

Tuning: Half-Step Down (D#D# G#G# C#C# F#F# A#A# D#D#)

Key: C majorC

Difficulty: Novice

Poem by Alfred Noyes
1st stanza:
 C majorC            E minorEm
The wind was a torrent of darkness
  A minorAm
Among the gusty trees
   E minorEm        FF
The moon was a ghostly galleon
 DmDm        G7G7
Tossed upon cloudy seas
     C majorC         E minorEm
And the road was a ribbon of moonlight
 A minorAm
Over the purple moor
    FF        C majorC    E MajorE   A minorAm
And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding
     FF        C majorC  A minorAm
Yes, the highwayman came riding
DmDm        G7G7
Up to the old inn door

2nd stanza:
 C majorC          E minorEm
Over the cobbles he clattered
   A minorAm
And clashed in the darkened yard
    E minorEm             FF
And he tapped with his whip at the window
 DmDm           G7G7
But all was locked and barred
    C majorC           E minorEm
So he whistled a tune to the window
 A minorAm
And who should be waiting there
    FF           C majorC
But the landlord's black eyed daughter
E MajorE          A minorAm
Bess the landlord's daughter
 FF         C majorC   A minorAm
Plaiting a dark red love knot
 DmDm         G7G7
Into her long black hair

3rd stanza:
 C majorC         E minorEm
One kiss, my bonny sweetheart
     A minorAm
For I'm after a prize tonight
  E minorEm            FF
But I shall be back with the yellow gold
 DmDm        G7G7
Before the morning light
  C majorC         E minorEm
Yet if they press me sharply
 A minorAm
Harry me through the day
     FF     C majorC
Oh, then look for me by moonlight
 E MajorE      A minorAm
Watch for me by moonlight
     FF       C majorC   A minorAm
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
DmDm             G7G7
Though Hell should bar the way

4th stanza:
 C majorC           E minorEm
He did not come at the dawning
A minorAm
No, he did not come at the noon
   E minorEm        FF
And out of the tawny sunset
DmDm           G7G7
Before the rise of the moon
 C majorC              E minorEm
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon
 A minorAm
Looping the purple moor
   FF         C majorC    E MajorE     A minorAm
Oh a redcoat troop came marching, marching, marching
FF            C majorC  A minorAm
King George's men came marching
DmDm         G7G7
Up to the old inn door

5th stanza:
 C majorC               E minorEm
And they bound the landlord's daughter
   A minorAm
With many a sniggering jest
     E minorEm         FF
And they bound the musket beside her
     DmDm         G7G7
With the barrel beneath her breast
 C majorC                 E minorEm
Now keep good watch and they kissed her
A minorAm
She heard the dead man say
  FF      C majorC
"Oh look for me by moonlight
E MajorE      A minorAm
Watch for me by moonlight
     FF      C majorC    A minorAm
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
    DmDm         G7G7
Though Hell should bar the way"

6th stanza:
C majorC      E minorEm
Look for me by moonlight
A minorAm
Hoofbeats rining clear
E minorEm      FF
Watch for me by moonlight
      DmDm          G7G7
Were they deaf that they did not hear
 C majorC            E minorEm
For he rode on the gypsy highway
 A minorAm
She breathed one final breath
     FF         C majorC
Then her finger moved in the moonlight
   E MajorE          A minorAm
Her musket shattered the moonlight
     FF             C majorC  A minorAm
And it shattered her breast in the moonlight
   DmDm         G7G7
And warned him with her death

7th stanza:
C majorC                 E minorEm
Oh he turned; he spurred on to the west
A minorAm
He did not know who stood
 E minorEm            FF
Out with her black hair a flowing down
DmDm             G7G7
Drenched with her own red blood
 C majorC              E minorEm
Oh not 'til the dawn had he heard it
 A minorAm
And his face grew gray to hear
 FF           C majorC
How Bess the landlord's daughter
  E MajorE           A minorAm
The landlord's black eyed daughter
   FF             C majorC  A minorAm
Had watched for her love in the moonlight
   DmDm          G7G7
And died in the darkness there

8th stanza:
 C majorC           E minorEm
Back he spurred like a madman
             A minorAm
Shrieking a curse to the sky
     E minorEm        FF
With the white road smoking behind him
     DmDm        G+G
And his rapier brandished high
 C majorC                E minorEm
Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon
A minorAm
Wine red his velvet coat
      FF          C majorC
When they shot him down on the highway
 E MajorE           A minorAm
Down like a dog on the highway
    FF            C majorC
And he lay in his blood on the highway
    FF          G+G
With a bunch of lace at his throat

Outro:
C majorC            E minorEm
And still on a winter's night they say
     A minorAm
When the wind is in the trees
     E minorEm        FF
When the moon is a ghostly galleon
DmDm         G7G7
Tossed upon cloudy seas
C majorC               E minorEm
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight
A minorAm
Over the purple moor
    FF        C majorC   E MajorE    A minorAm
Oh the highwayman comes riding, riding, riding
     FF        C majorC  A minorAm
Yes the highwayman comes riding
DmDm        G7G7        C majorC
Up to the old inn door