The Hills Of Roane County chords by Townes Van Zandt

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Chorus:

C        Em  F   G       C
In the beautiful hills in the midst of Roane Country
                    G  G7
It's there that I labored my whole life away
          C     G      F
It’s there that my heart is a-turnin' most ever
        C       G      C  F  C
It's there the first steps of misfortune I made


Verse 1:

C        Em   F   G      C
I’s about thirty years when I courted and married
                  G  G7
Miss Armanda Gilbert to be my fair wife
         C   G        C
For some unknown reason, her brother Tom stabbed me
          C    G        C  F  C
And not two months later, I'd taken Tom's life


Verse 2:

C         Em  F  G     C
I's captured and tried in a village of Kingsport
                    G  G7
Not a soul in that village could say a kind word
         C G  F         C
When a jury come in with the verdict next mornin'
        C        G      C  F  C
"A lifetime in prison," are the words that I heard


[Verse 3}

C         Em  F G       C
Well my mama come down to see me at the station
                     G  G7
My sweet sister Donna stood there by her side
          C G             F
They turned for to go, but I was chained to the platform
            C       G     C   F C
They said, "Willie, God bless you, God bless you, goodbye"


Verse 4:

C          Em  F         C
In the scorching hot sands of a foundry, I'm toiling
                     G G7
Just a-toilin' and sweatin' my poor life away
         C F          C
When I die, bury me on the banks of old Cumberland
            C    G   C   F  C
In the beautiful green hills of east Tennessee


Verse 5:

         Em  F   G       C
In the beautiful hills in the midst of Roane Country
           C          G  G7
It’s there that I’ve labored my whole life away
          C   G         F
It's there that my heart is a-turnin’ most ever
           C    G      C  F  C
It's there the first steps of misfortune I made