The Ghost Of Tom Joad chords by Bruce Springsteen

Song: The Ghost of Tom Joad
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Album: The Ghost of Tom Joad
Year: 1995

I've seen a few versions, but none have really had it written out the way in which it is played.


Chord Variants Used:
                     Am/G                C/B

                  E A D G B e         E A D G B E
                 -------------       -------------
                  3 x 2 2 1 0         x 2 2 0 1 0

**Capo 2nd fret**  (All chords relative to capo)

Intro(Studio Version): Am
Intro W/Harmonica*: Am F C C/B Am G Am

*Some live versions and his recording for "The People Speak"

Am                     Am/G   Am
Man walkin' long the railroad tracks
C                                 G
Goin' some place there's no going back

Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge
    Am                  Am/G      Am
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
                        Am/G      Am
Shelter line stretchin' round the corner
C                        G
Welcome to the new world order

Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest
Am                Am/G     Am
No home no job no peace no rest

F
The highway is alive tonight
             C                    C/B      Am
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
G
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Am                Am/G         Am
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and talks a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard book neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aquaeduct

The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Harmonica Break : F  C  C/B  Am  G  Am

Now Tom said: "Mom, wherever there's cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight gainst blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or helping hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me"

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

Outro: F C C/B Am G Am x2
Last time: Am Am/G Am