verse 1 
A                E               A                E 
Sam Smith was an old man, by the time I first saw him. 
A                E                A            B 
Wild eyes and a wicked beard, hanging from his chin. 
A                      E           A       E 
I thought I’d seen the devil, as a boy in ‘99. 
A                       E            A            E 
My daddy called him the hermit, from on the borderline. 

Chorus 
                A                     E              A                E 
He said They’re never gonna take him back again, and march him off to war. 
      A                   E              A                   B 
Where grey-headed men in long wool coats assign their bloody chores. 
A                  E                A                  E 
They can look, but they won’t find, old Sam Smith this time. 
     A                  E            A          E 
He’s somewhere North of Canaan Hill along borderline. 

verse 2 
A                      E           A                E 
They say Old Sam was a veteran, he rode in the cavalry, 
A                E             A         B 
Came home on a limping leg sometime in ‘63. 
A                  E               A                E 
Bought a saw and a scattergun at Scagway's general store. 
               A             E                   A          E 
He said, “I’m taking to the woods so they won’t find me anymore.” 

Chorus 
            A                     E              A                E 
No, they’re never gonna take me back again, and march me off to war. 
      A                   E              A                   B 
Where grey-headed men in long wool coats assign their bloody chores. 
A                  E                A                  E 
They can look, but they won't find, old Sam Smith this time. 
     A                   E               A           E 
He’s somewhere north of Canaan Hill out on the borderline. 

verse 3 
     A                  E                 A                E 
Now every month on the twenty-fifth, he’d come back to the store. 
       A               E                    A                B 
With a broken down old blue tick that would wait outside the door. 
         A                               E                 A               E 
and He'd yell “Where’s my check from the government, and I want a block of cheese.” 
          A            E               A              E 
Then he'd fold it in a handkerchief he kept up in his sleeve. 

Chorus 
            A                     E              A                E 
No, they’re never gonna take me back again, and march me off to war. 
      A                   E              A                   B 
Where grey-headed men in long wool coats assign their bloody chores. 
A                  E                     A                 E 
They can look, they're never gonna find, old Sam Smith this time. 
     A                  E            A          E 
He’s somewhere north of Canaan Hill along the borderline.