John Barleycorn Must Die Acoustic chords by Steve Winwood

Capo 7th fret


INTRO:
Asus2 (arpeggiated down and up)
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|


VERSE 1:
D        Am    C  G   Am
There were three men came out of the west,
D   C    G   Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2
Their fortunes for to try.
D        Am C   G   Am-Asus2-Am
And these three men made a solemn oath,
D     C  G  Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2
John Barleycorn must die.

CHORUS 1:
C         G           Am
They've ploughed, they've sewn, they've harrowed him in,
   C    D   Esus4-E
Threw clods upon his head.
Dm       Am C   G   Am-Asus2-Am
And these three men made a solemn oath,
D     C  G  Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2
John Barleycorn was dead.


INSTRUMENTAL 1:
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|


VERSE 2:
D        Am    C  G  Am
They've let him lie for a very long time,
D       C    G   Am-Asus2-Am
Till the rains from heaven did fall.
D       Am  C   G   Am-Asus2-Am
And little Sir John sprung up his head,
D   C   G  Am-Asus2-Am
and so amazed them all.


CHORUS 2:
C        G       Am
They've let him stand till Midsummer's Day,
   C       D    Esus4-E
Till he looked both pale and wan.
Dm       Am C   G   Am-Asus2-Am
And these three men made a solemn oath,
D    C  G   Am-Asus2-Am
On poor John Barleycorn.


INSTRUMENTAL 2:
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|


VERSE 3:
D         Am    C    G Am
They've hired men with the scythes so sharp,
D     C   G  Am-Asus2-Am
To cut him off at the knee.
D           Am    C G  Am-Asus2-Am
They've rolled him and tied him by the waist,
D        C G   Am-Asus2-Am
Serving him most barbarously.


CHORUS 3:
C         G    Am
They've hired men with the sharp pitchforks,
  C      D   Esus4-E
Who pricked him to the heart.
Dm       Am   C   G     Am-Asus2-Am
And the loader he has served him worse than that,
D    C     G   Am-Asus2-Am
For he's bound him to the cart.


INSTRUMENTAL 3:
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|


VERSE 4:
D          Am     C   G  Am
They've wheeled him around and around the field,
D     C  G   Am-Asus2-Am
Till they came unto a barn.
D       Am   C G  Am-Asus2-Am
And there they made a solemn oath,
D      C G Am-Asus2-Am
On poor John Barleycorn.


CHORUS 4:
C         G    Am
They've hired men with the crab-tree sticks,
  C      D  Esus4-E
To cut him skin from bone.
Dm          Am     C   G  Am-Asus2-Am
And the miller he has served him worse than that,
D          C    G  Am-Asus2-Am
For he's ground him between two stones.


INSTRUMENTAL 4:
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|(Mmm-oooh)
|D C G Am-Asus2 Am-Asus2|(Who-oooh)


VERSE 5:
D          Am   C  G   Am
And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl,
  C      D  Esus4-E
And he?s brandy in the glass.
D          Am   C  G   Am-Asus2-Am
And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl,
D        C  G   Am-Asus2-Am
Proved the strongest man at last.


CHORUS 5 & CODA:
C           G    Am
The huntsman, he can't hunt the fox,
  C      D    Esus4-E
Nor so loudly to blow his horn.
Dm       Am    C  G     Am-Asus2-Am
And the tinker he can't mend kettle nor pots,
D     C   G   Am (Slowed tempo, arpeggio and fade, on last line)
Without a little Barleycorn.


[End]


Notes.
1. This version has particular quirks that are unique, as it is a solo acoustic performance.
2. Traffic?s original album ?John Barleycorn Must Die? featuring ?John Barleycorn (Must Die)?
was released forty-five years ago in July, 1970.