John Wilkes Booth Tony Rice
written by : Mary Chapin Carpenter
album played capo 6 fret key of G
this is my version in the key of C
so I can attempt to sing it LOL
[C]John Wilkes Booth was a southern [F]man,
[Am]Born of an actor in Maryla[G]nd,
[C]Bound for fortune on a gas-lit [F]stage,
[Am]Bound to die at a [G]tender[C] age.
Washington to Baltimore,
He played the bills and he slept with whores,
And he burned inside with a hatred deep
For the man who caused the south to weep.
Young Abe Lincoln wasn't young no more,
Tired old man when he won the war,
And he dreamed at night of his death by the hand
Of a bitter world and a faceless man
[F]And he saw his body in a [G]ghastly dr[Am]eam,
[F]Draped in black while his [Am]widow sc[G]reamed.
[F]Two silver dollars on his[G] eyelids [Am]lay.
[C]Abraham Linco[F]ln has died toda[G]y.[C]
CHORUS: [F]They said there were five and [G]they said there were [Am]ten.
Some say t[C]here was never more than [F]just one ma[G]n.
[F]Who would smile to see[G] Mr. Lincol[Am]n dead
In the na[C]me of God an[Am]d Dixie,[Dm]
[C]In the name of God and Dixie Land.[Am] [G] [C]
John Wilkes Booth and his band of men
They'd failed before but would try again.
When Good Friday dawned with a fickle sun,
Then Booth declared the day had come.
The word was passed and the guns were brought,
Down to Mary Sarrat's boarding house.
Sealed in a note, Booth named just four,
But the gallows would sway with many more.
CHORUS
John Wilkes Booth went to his grave
With a bullet in his neck and a broken leg,
A patriot and his fantasy
Of redemption, grace, and bravery.
And those who hanged and those who spent
Their lives behind a jailer's fence,
Only Booth could have set them free
From the taint of the conspiracy.
CHORUS
In the name of God and Dixie
In the name of God and Dixie land
Important: The song above is NOT stored on the Chordie server. The original song is hosted at www.guitaretab.com. Chordie works as a search engine and provides on-the-fly formatting. Chordie does not index songs against artists'/composers' will. To remove this song please click here.
