The Ballad Of The Carpenter chords by Phil Ochs

• Capo on 4th

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Key: C#m

Difficulty: Intermediate

INTRO:
Am


VERSE 1:
Am     G    Am
Jesus was a working man
Am     G    Am
And a hero you will hear
Am     G    Am  E
Born in the town of Bethlehem
    Am   C   G
At the turning of the year
    E7       Am
At the turning of the year

VERSE 2:
Am        G   Am
When Jesus was a little lad
Am      G    Am
Streets rang with his name
Am      G    Am  E
For he argued with the older men
Am      C   G
And put them all to shame
  E7       Am
He put them all to shame


VERSE 3:
Am          G   Am
He became a wandering journeyman
Am       G    Am
And he traveled far and wide
Am         G     Am  E
And he noticed how wealth and poverty
   Am   C    G
Live always side by side
   E7       Am
Live always side by side


VERSE 4:
Am          G    Am
So he said "Come you working men
Am     G    Am
Farmers and weavers too
Am      G  Am    E
If you would only stand as one
   Am  C    G
This world belongs to you
E7         Am
This world belongs to you"


VERSE 5:
Am                G       Am
When the rich men heard what the carpenter had done
Am      G      Am
To the Roman troops they ran
Am       G   Am  E
Saying put this rebel Jesus down
Am        C    G
He's a menace to God and man
    E7        Am
He's a menace to God and man


VERSE 6:
Am          G     Am
The commander of the occupying troops
Am  G          Am
Just laughed and then he said
Am     G        Am     E
"There's a cross to spare on Calvaries Hill
    Am   C   G
By the weekend he'll be dead
    E7        Am
By the weekend he'll be dead"


VERSE 7:
Am        G    Am
Now Jesus walked among the poor
Am        G    Am
For the poor were his own kind
Am          G    Am   E
And they'd never let them get near enough
  Am    C   G
To take him from behind
  E7       Am
To take him from behind


VERSE 8:
Am            G    Am
So they hired one of the traders trade
Am   G      Am
And an informer was he
Am       G       Am    E
And he sold his brother to the butchers men
    Am    C   G
For a fistful of silver money
    E7        Am
For a fistful of silver money


VERSE 9:
Am          G   Am
And Jesus sat in the prison cell
Am          G      Am
And they beat him and offered him bribes
Am      G      Am   E
To desert the cause of his fellow man
  Am      C     G
And work for the rich men's tribe
  E7           Am
To work for the rich men's tribe


VERSE 10:
Am             G   Am
And the sweat stood out on Jesus' brow
Am        G   Am
And the blood was in his eye
Am          G      Am  E
When they nailed his body to the Roman cross
     Am       C      G
And they laughed as they watched him die
   E7             Am
They laughed as they watched him die


VERSE 11:
Am           G     Am
Two thousand years have passed and gone
Am   G  Am
Many a hero too
Am        G     Am  E
But the dream of this poor carpenter
 Am      C    G
Remains in the hands of you
  E7          Am
Remains in the hands of you


OUTRO:
Am