Intro: D Bm (5x)

D                           Bm           D 
Id seen the bloodlands of Antietam 
                             Bm 
The shotgun shack in Tupelo 
      D                        Am                  G 
But a brick circumference left hollow by Sherman 
                    Em 
Crumbling before me how it moans 

D                      Bm 
His shape swallows my recollection 
D                        Bm 
That phantom silhouette implied 
D                              Am                            G 
Strange fruit rotting from an air morning hotter than hell 
                       Em 
Is this the king’s last man Ive spied 

D                        Bm 
I stood there beside my companion 
D                              Bm 
Scratching a rumor he had heard 
D  
Do you have a gun? 
                Am 
What? He said, yeah, you mean this one? 
G                                   Em 
Straight down the barrel was his word 

D                                  Bm 
And I smelt the fumes he inhaled swiftly 
D                              Bm 
Each word was hinged upon his choke 
D                        Am                      G 
Like kudzu creeping up a state tree discretely 
                       Em 
Forever bending as it broke 

D                                 Bm 
And I heard the jangling keys of Graceland 
D                                      Bm 
Ring from his teeth stained round from coke 
D                          Am                    G 
Drunk and stumbling like a man of distinction 
                        Em 
They clamored shaking as he spoke 

D                             Bm 
Of droves of pilgrims at his doorway 
D                            Bm 
Of Reagan, Carter, Clinton, Gore 
D                      Am 
Fortunes offered them, refused routinely 
G                                    Em 
This aint no damn auction house he swore 

D                                    Bm 
Black male standing around 6 foot something 
D                                    Bm 
Ebbs through the waves of small town bias 
D                    Am                    G 
A minute coldly from southern affection 
                        Em 
Collides secretly into night 

D                                 Bm 
Forgive those who trespass against us 
D                         Bm 
Began the dead intruders plea 
D                  Am                   G 
Into the very muzzle I’d once bit into 
                                 Em 
He gives the last words he will speak 

D                                 Bm 
That broken glass supports forced entry 
D                                Bm 
Reminds his lawyer through the phone 
D                             Am 
What southern judge do you know, comforting gently 
G                                    Em 
Who jails white men who defend their home 

D                               Bm 
No souls are present for the moment 
D                                   Bm 
His bombed out brick walls finally fell 
D                      Am 
Lying face down in the throes of atonement 
G                               Em 
Checked out of the Heartbreak Hotel 

D Bm x2 D Am G Em 

D        A      G      D      A      G 
It’s the uncast shadow of a southern myth x5