Intro: 
D  G A 
D  G A 


[Verso 1]

D                                   G 
 He was more than just a decent man, best friend I ever had 
D                          A             G                  A 
 When you're shooting at a coffee can, a thirty eight don't kick that bad 
G                  A                D 
But it kicks right through my bones every second of every day 
G                                          A 
 Clacking by like cobblestones under broken wheels 


[Verso 2]
 
D                           G 
 And if the truth be known, I wasn't doing that well 
D                           G            A 
 I wasn't paying attention, I brought it on myself 
      G                A                   D 
And I blamed it on the gods that seemed to smile on everybody else 
G                    A 
 I got so inside out, I didn't know what was real 


[Refrão]
 
G     A              Bm  A  G 
 My fields are empty now 
       A                 Bm 
My ground won't take the plow 
D     G              A          Bm 
 It's washed down to gravel and stones 
D     G             A       D 
 It's only good for burying bones 

Instrumental: 
D  G  A 
D  G 


[Verso 3]
 
D                  A             G                   A 
 I took the pistol off the wall, somebody hollered, "Put it back 
D                                         G              A 
 Sit down, dad, before you fall down, you got no earthly use for that" 
G                      A            D               Bm 
 But I slipped out the kitchen door, saddled up the sway backed mule 
G                                     A 
 Cinched her tight and swung on board, rode off like a drunken fool 


[Verso 4]
 
G              A              D 
 Rode right on off the world, just like it never mattered none 
G                                          A 
 There wasn't nothing but me and the hurt, and the biting cold, and the heft of that gun 
G                  A              D               Bm 
In the pocket of a sheepskin coat, moonlight in a madman's eye 
G                             A 
 For the unfairness of it all, surely something had to die 


[Refrão]
 
G     A              Bm  A  G 
 My fields are empty now 
       A                 Bm 
My ground won't take the plow 
D     G              A          Bm 
 It's washed down to gravel and stones 
D     G             A       D 
 It's only good for burying bones 

Instrumental: 
G  A  D 
G  A  Bm  A 
G  A  D  Bm 
G  A 



[Ponte]
 
D                                  G 
 He came out in the lantern light, his face in the flash was the last I saw 
D                                     G         A 
 Of the world when it was still right, I didn't watch it fall 
G           A             D                      Bm 
 I knew I'd hit him good, twice in the chest without a thought 
G                                         A 
 Turned the mule towards the county seat, like I knew I ought 


[Refrão]

G     A              Bm  A  G 
 My fields are empty now 
       A                 Bm 
My ground won't take the plow 
D     G              A          Bm 
 It's washed down to gravel and stones 
D     G             A       D 
 It's only good for burying bones 

G     A              Bm  A  G 
 My fields are empty now 
       A                 Bm 
My ground won't take the plow 
D     G              A          Bm 
 It's washed down to gravel and stones 
D     G             A       D 
 It's only good for burying bones 

Instrumental 
D  G A 
D A G A 


[Verso 5]
 
D                 A  G            A 
Lola comes to visit, just nothing I can say 
D                                     G               A 
We sit here of an afternoon 'til it's time for her to go away 
G                      A              D                  Bm 
She rides home on that same mule that brought me to this place 
G                                 A 
Don't know how she even stands to look upon her daddy's face 


[Verso 6]

D                                   G 
 He was more than just a decent man, best friend I ever had 
D                          A             G                  A 
 When you're shooting at a coffee can, a thirty eight don't kick that bad 

Outro: 
G A D