D 
Well, my name's John Lee Pettimore, 
Same as my daddy and his daddy's before. 
You hardly ever saw grandaddy down here 
He'd only come to town about twice a year 
Buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line. 
                                      D7 
Everybody knew that he made moonshine. 
         G 
Now the revenue man wanted granddaddy bad. 
 D    
Headed up the holler with everything he had. 
 G      
Before my time, but I've been told. 
     D 
You never come back from Copperhead Road. 
 
      D 
Granddaddy ran whiskey in a big black Dodge 
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge 
Had Payne County Sheriff painted on the side 
Everybody knew that he made moonshie 
Well, him and my uncle tore that engine down 
                                     D7 
I still remember that rumbling sound 
          G 
Then the sheriff came around in the middle of the night 
 D  
Heard mama crying that something wasn't right 
        G 
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load 
           D                                        D(d,u,d,u,d) 4x 
You could smell the whisky burning down Copperhead Road. 
 
        D 
I volunteered for the army on my birthday 
They draft the white trash first, round hear anyway 
I done two tours of duty in Viet Nam 
I came home with a brand new plan 
I'd take the seed from Columbia and Mexico 
                                                D7 
I'd plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road 
        G 
Now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air 
   D 
I wake up screamin, like I'm back over there 
    G 
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know. 
      D                                 D(d,u,d,u,d) 4x 
You better stay away from Copperhead Road. 

 
**I like to play this in drop D tuning and if you do that, it's best 
to play the G like the second chording.