[Intro ]

F                                       C              G 
Well someone shot the president, on the night that I was born 
F                            C    G 
I wasn't born to poverty or wealth 
F                              C 
Just one in a million babies, often to be told 
                           G                     
Keep their opinions to themselves 

F                                       C                G                     
I really wasn't all that small but they called me Little Tom 
F                              C    G 
And they sent me to school far away 
F                         C 
I don't really get it and I may never know  
                                                   G                                       
But they said at the time that there was no other way,  
           Am        C     G 
no other way 

Instrumental 
Am C G 

F                                     C               G 
Well they say I had a sister, but she died when I was young 
F                                 C           G 
In a home that the government had found her in 
F                                               C 
And the place they found for me they called the great opportunity 
                                          G                                                  
Still I wish she could have died with me around her 
F                                 C           G            
See some kids got a beatin', some kids went away 
F                                      C    G 
Sometimes I'd hear 'em leaving in the night 
F                             C 
One time I saw Jesus standing outside in the rain 
                                       G                                
And he told me that I was gonna be all right,  
              Am           C       G 
gonna be all right 

Instrumental 
D C D C Em Am 

F                                                 C           G 
Well the priest there he bought me a suit, and we got in his car 
F                             C    G 
And he took me for a ride downtown 
F                                    
Said the Army is the place for you,  
C 
be a man before they're through 
                                        G 
He walked away while I was just staring down 

F                                           C           G 
Now which God made the criminals, and which God made police 
F                                 C    G 
And which God makes the ones like me 
F                                         C 
Where do bad guys come from if they don't fall out of the sky 
                                         G 
When I get out I'm gonna work at stayin free,  
             Am        C      G 
just stayin free 

Instrumental 
Am C G Am