Tom: A
A
B
D
B
He sleeps out there, out where the coyotes wail,
D
A
E
B
The reason he ain't at the bar with the boys,
B
E
B
D
A
C#
Makes quite a dismal tale ...
A
C
D
E
A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
A
C
D
E
B
He oughtn't-a, shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, no siree.
C
D
You don't get many callers,
E
B
Sleeping on the lone prairie.
A
C
D
E
A
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
verse 1
A
Way out West we're wild and wooly,
C
D
C
D
We're tall grown, all grown,
A
All the men are hairy-chested,
A
And all the women, double-breasted.
A
We're lady-like until molested,
B
D
E
And then we're on our own!
A
C
D
E
A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
A
C
D
E
B
He oughtn't-a shouldn't-a hadn't-a felt so free.
C
D
His wife gets the insurance,
E
B
And I'm sorry as can be,
A
C
D
E
A
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
verse 2
A
This here job is mighty tryin',
A
Sometimes the room is fairly flyin' with
C
D
C
D
High-balls, eye-balls.
A
One got killed, somebody got 'im,
A
Tore up the joint from top to bottom.
A
I think I was that one that shot him,
B
D
E
As near as I recall.
A
C
D
E
A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
B
A
B
E
B
He massacred eight or nine men at the Lazy "B".
A
C
D
A
He then took on the sheriff, and the sheriff's deputy,
A
C
D
E
B
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
verse 3
A
All you boys remember Harry,
A
The wrangler I was set to marry,
C
D
C
D
A long man, strong man.
A
One night he yells, "I'm from Texas!"
A
And socks me in my solar plexus.
A
Well having normal, good reflexes,
B
D
E
I knocked him on his can!
B
D
E
F#
B
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a blacked my eye,
E
B
D
F
C
I'm really a lovable, peaceable kind of guy.
C
D
E
B
I wouldn't scare a rabbit, and I couldn't harm a flea,
B
D
E
F#
B
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
Music 1
A
If this story has a moral,
A
It's: When you're looking for a quarrel or
C
D
C
D
Show Down. "Slow down."
A
If by now, you haven't mastered,
A
The gentle art of getting plastered,
A
You're just a Low-Down, you ain't mastered,
B
D
E
The motto of our town!
B
D
E
F#
B
You shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a start no fight,
D
F
C
Our burying ground is a most impressive sight.
C
D
E
B
The message on them tombstones is as simple as can be,
D
E
B
E
C#
F#
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
E
F#
C#
F#
D
A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me!