Key: C
Introduction:
C F
He was the black sheep of the family
C F
How did mama's pride and joy
G
To the devil's poster boy
C F
I'm gonna slick my hair like Elvis
C F
Roll my cuffs like Jerry Lee
C F
If the backbeat's born in hell
G
Then that's the place I want to be
F C
I'm gonna be a midnight rider
F C
Gonna burn my candle down
F C
Following that driving beat
Am F C F C F
To the dark side of town
C F
From the barrooms of Deep Elam
C F
To a crash-pad on the Bay
C F
He spiralled slow and steady down
G
A lonely blue highway
C F
I'm gonna chase my beer with whiskey
C F
Stick a needle in my skin
C F
I'm gonna celebrate the mystery
G
Of the hole I've fallen in
F C
'Cause I'm a midnight rider
F C
Gonna burn my candle down
F C
Following that driving beat
Am F C F C F
To the dark side of town
C F
He loved that funky music
C F
He knew the back road scenes
C F
Every barbeque and blues band
G
Between here and New Orleans
C F
He put down the bottle
C F
October Eighty-nine
C F
Eased up on the throttle
G
Bought him a little time
F C
But he was a midnight rider
F C
He burned that candle down
F C
Hangin' out on easy-does-it street
Am F C F C F
On the dark side of town
C F
Big Al settled down along
C F
The banks of Onion Creek
C F
With a pickup and a hound dog
G
And a little lucky streak
C F
He nursed that fragile frame
C F
Through the hurricanes and drought
C F
It was a summer wind that came in
G
And blew the candle out
F C
'Cause he was a midnight rider
F C
He burned that candle down
F C
Following that driving beat
Am F
To the dark side of town
C
Oh, you midnight rider
F C
I know you're still around
F C
Hangin' out on easy street
Am F C F C F
On the dark side of town