Chord/Tab song: The Man Who Would Speak True

Tuning: Standard EADGBe

CAPO 7th FRET



Chord reference (note the chord names are written as if there was
no capo, for simplicity):

[Am] [D7sus4] [D7] [Em7] [A9] [C] [G] [D]

e -------------------0----0----0----3----2---
B --1----1------1----0----0----1----0----3---
G --2----2------2----0----2----0----0----2---
D --2----0------0----0----x----2----0----0---
A --0----x------x----2----4----3----2--------
E -------3------2----0----0---------3--------


[Am]I had a lover, [D7sus4]name was Grace

She [D7]found me down in a [D7sus4]lonely place

[Am]She dug me out with an [D7sus4]old jar bow

She dr[D7]essed me up for to [D7sus4]take me home

She [Am]fed me words that I [D7sus4]could not taste

For I [D7]had no tongue, it had [D7sus4]been replaced

By a [Am]green and a-growin' fl[D7sus4]ower which grew

And I [D7]knew if I ever sp[D7sus4]oke I would speak tru[Am]e

[---]
[D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus4]
[---]
[Am]We lived together in an [D7sus4]old hotel

[D7]Broke-down palace with a [D7sus4]wishing well

The [Am]neighbour girl taught me [D7sus4]how to spell

And [D7]how to steal what I [D7sus4]could not sell

But I [Am]fed my tongue on the [D7sus4]devil's rum

And a [D7]roadhouse run by a [D7sus4]godless bum

On a [Am]drunken night with a [D7sus4]stolen gun

I [D7]shot my lover as she [D7sus4]made to run

The [Em7]judge said "Son, [A9]what have you done?"

But I [Em7]didn't speak a word, no I [A9]didn't speak one

And the [C]judge sent [G]me away[D]

And they [C]buried my [G]Grace, yeah, the [D7sus4]very next [Am]day

[---]
[D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus4]
[---]
[Am]They sent me out on a [D7sus4]midnight train

In the [D7]rain rollin' down through the [D7sus4]dusty plain

[Am]4 men sittin' with an [D7sus4]old shotgun

[D7]silver stars pinned on [D7sus4]everyone

They [Am]busted my mouth for to [D7sus4]get at my tongue

To [D7]see just how this had [D7sus4]all begun

So I [Em7]opened my mouth like a [A9]dragon's breath

I [Em7]only spoke truth, but it [A9]only brought death

And I lai[C]d those [G]boys to re[D]st

For the [C]truth in [G]truth is a [D7sus4]terrible jes[Am]t

[---]
[D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus4]
[---]
For there [Em7]ain't no road but the [A9]road to home

There [Em7]ain't no crops but the [A9]one's you've sown

And if you [C]learn one [G]thing from [D]me

You better [C]guard your [G]tongue like your [D7sus4]enemy[Am]

[---]
[D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus4]
[---]
[Am]I came to ground in a [D7sus4]one horse town

On the [D7]western rim where the [D7sus4]sun go down

Where a [Am]branded man might [D7sus4]start again

For to [D7]ride his rung, for to [D7sus4]lose his sin

But my [Am]tongue kept growing, it [D7sus4]would not cease

I [D7]grew quite weary, couldn't [D7sus4]get no release

So I [Em7]went to the magistrate and [A9]turned myself in

[Em7]Picked up a shovel and he [A9]made the grin

And they [C]planted me [G]by the se[D]a

Now the [C]birds of the [G]air make [D7sus4]nests on [Am]me

[---]
[D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus4]
[Am] [D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus4]