The Highwayman chords by Phil Ochs

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

Key: C

Difficulty: Novice

Poem by Alfred Noyes
1st stanza:
 C                        Em
The wind was a torrent of darkness
   Am
Among the gusty trees
      Em                F
The moon was a ghostly galleon
  Dm               G7
Tossed upon cloudy seas
          C                  Em
And the road was a ribbon of moonlight
 Am
Over the purple moor
        F                C       E      Am
And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding
          F               C   Am
Yes, the highwayman came riding
Dm                G7
Up to the old inn door

2nd stanza:
 C                   Em
Over the cobbles he clattered
     Am
And clashed in the darkened yard
        Em                         F
And he tapped with his whip at the window
 Dm                     G7
But all was locked and barred
       C                      Em
So he whistled a tune to the window
 Am
And who should be waiting there
        F                      C
But the landlord's black eyed daughter
E                    Am
Bess the landlord's daughter
 F                  C     Am
Plaiting a dark red love knot
 Dm                 G7
Into her long black hair

3rd stanza:
 C                  Em
One kiss, my bonny sweetheart
         Am
For I'm after a prize tonight
    Em                       F
But I shall be back with the yellow gold
 Dm                G7
Before the morning light
    C                 Em
Yet if they press me sharply
 Am
Harry me through the day
          F          C
Oh, then look for me by moonlight
 E           Am
Watch for me by moonlight
          F              C     Am
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
Dm                         G7
Though Hell should bar the way

4th stanza:
 C                     Em
He did not come at the dawning
Am
No, he did not come at the noon
     Em               F
And out of the tawny sunset
Dm                     G7
Before the rise of the moon
 C                           Em
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon
 Am
Looping the purple moor
      F                  C        E         Am
Oh a redcoat troop came marching, marching, marching
F                       C    Am
King George's men came marching
Dm                 G7
Up to the old inn door

5th stanza:
 C                             Em
And they bound the landlord's daughter
      Am
With many a sniggering jest
         Em                  F
And they bound the musket beside her
         Dm                 G7
With the barrel beneath her breast
 C                                  Em
Now keep good watch and they kissed her
Am
She heard the dead man say
    F           C
"Oh look for me by moonlight
E            Am
Watch for me by moonlight
         F            C       Am
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
        Dm                 G7
Though Hell should bar the way"

6th stanza:
C           Em
Look for me by moonlight
Am
Hoofbeats rining clear
Em            F
Watch for me by moonlight
           Dm                    G7
Were they deaf that they did not hear
 C                        Em
For he rode on the gypsy highway
 Am
She breathed one final breath
          F                  C
Then her finger moved in the moonlight
     E                    Am
Her musket shattered the moonlight
         F                          C    Am
And it shattered her breast in the moonlight
     Dm                 G7
And warned him with her death

7th stanza:
C                                  Em
Oh he turned; he spurred on to the west
Am
He did not know who stood
 Em                       F
Out with her black hair a flowing down
Dm                         G7
Drenched with her own red blood
 C                           Em
Oh not 'til the dawn had he heard it
 Am
And his face grew gray to hear
 F                      C
How Bess the landlord's daughter
    E                     Am
The landlord's black eyed daughter
     F                          C    Am
Had watched for her love in the moonlight
     Dm                   G7
And died in the darkness there

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

Outro:
C                       Em
And still on a winter's night they say
         Am
When the wind is in the trees
         Em                F
When the moon is a ghostly galleon
Dm                  G7
Tossed upon cloudy seas
C                             Em
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight
Am
Over the purple moor
        F                C      E        Am
Oh the highwayman comes riding, riding, riding
         F                C   Am
Yes the highwayman comes riding
Dm                G7               C
Up to the old inn door