Guitar 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
ⓘ Guitar chords for 'The Highwayman' by Phil Ochs, a male artist. Phil Ochs was born in 1940. He passed away in 1976
