Capo 2 

Intro: G C G C D G 

G          C      G               C       G 
On October Twenty-Third, Nineteen Seventy-Eight  
  C      G                         D 
I lost a loved one and I confess I cried  
       G      C    G              C 
In the joyous cele-bration of the lady and her music  
           G            C       G 
There were tears in the Holston River  
     D               G    G7 
When Maybelle Carter died  

     C 
Then walking down that river road  
      G 
I saw crystal tear-shaped droplets            
                                            D 
Silver beads of love sparklin' on the river side  
         G 
And I'll just bet they turn to diamonds  
        C 
For the love that was behind 'em  
           G            C       G 
There were tears in the Holston River  
     D               G  
When Mother Maybelle died  

        G    C   G                 C 
Then on Janu-ary  Eighth, Nineteen-Seventy-Nine  
        C    G 
We lost Sara Carter  
                       D 
And the pain was multi-plied  
        G        C          G 
Down be-low that old Clinch Mountain  
   C 
We laid her at Mount Vernon  
           G            C       G 
There were tears in the Holston River  
     D           G    G7 
When Sara Carter died  

     C 
Then walking down that river road  
  G 
I saw crystal tear-shaped droplets  
                                            D 
Silver beads of love sparklin' on the river-side  
              G 
And I'll just bet they turn to diamonds  
        C 
For the love that was behind 'em  
           G             C       G 
There were tears in the  Holston River  
     D               G  
When Maybelle & Sara died  

           G            C       G 
There were tears in the Holston River  
            C            G    D      G  
When Mother Maybelle and Sara Carter died