Prison Trilogy Chords by Joan Baez
Tempo:
98.65 bpm
Chords used:
Cm
Eb
Ab
Bbm
Fm
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Gm] [Ab]
Billy Rose was a low [Cm] rider, Billy Rose was a night [Bbm] fighter, Billy [Db] Rose knew trouble [Ab] like the sound of [Eb] his own name.
[Bbm] Busted on a drunken [Db] charge, driving someone else's [Dbm] car, the local midnight sheriff's [Ab] claim to fame.
In an Arizona jail, [Cm] there is some will tell the [Bbm] tale, how Billy [Db] fought the sergeant [Cm] for some milk that he demanded.
[Eb] [Bbm] Knowing they'd remain the boss, [Db] knowing he would pay the cost, [Dbm] they saw he was [Ab] severely reprimanded.
[Fm] In the black, a [Cm] cell on a block, [Fm] he hanged [Cm] himself, but don't [Fm] [Cm] step to the bunkhead.
[Bbm] Don't mess with me, [Eb] just take me home.
[Fm] Come and lay, help [Eb] us lay, young [Ab] Billy down.
[Eb] [Ab] Luna was a Mexican, [Cm] the law calls an alien, [Bbm] for coming across [Db] the border [Cm] with a baby and a [Eb] wife.
[Bbm] While the clothes upon his [Db] back were wet, still he thought that he could get [Dbm] some money and things to [Ab] start a life.
It hadn't been too very [Eb] long when it [Cm] seemed like everything went [Bbm] wrong, didn't [Db] even have the [Cm] time to find [Eb] themselves a home.
[Bbm] When this foreigner, brown skinned [Db] male, thrown inside a Texas [Dbm] jail, left the wife and baby [Ab] quite alone.
[Fm] He eased the pain [Cm]
inside [Fm] him, with a needle [Cm] in his arm, [Fm] but the dope just [Cm] crucified him, [Bbm] and he died to no [Eb] one's great alarm.
[Fm] Come and lay, [Eb] help us lay, poor [Ab] Luna down, [Fm] and we'll raise, [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
Kilowatt was an aging [Cm] con of 65, who stood a [Bbm] chance to stay [Db] alive and leave the [Cm] joint and walk the [Eb] streets again.
[Bbm] At the time he was to leave [Db] Juneer, he suffered all the joy and [Dbm] fear of leaving 35 [Ab] years in the pen.
Then on the day of his [Cm] release he was approached by the [Bbm] police, who took him [Db] to the warden [Cm] walking [Eb] slowly by his side.
[Bbm] The warden said you won't [Db] remain here, but it seems the state retainer [Dbm] claims another 10 years [Ab] of your life.
He [Fm] stepped out in the [Cm] Texas sunlight, [Fm] and the cops all [Cm] stood around.
[Fm] Oh, [Cm] Kilowatt ran 50 yards, [Bbm] then threw himself down [Eb] on the ground.
They [Fm] might as well [Eb] just have laid that [Ab] old man down.
But [Fm] we're gonna raise, [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
Help [Fm] us raise, [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
[N]
Billy Rose was a low [Cm] rider, Billy Rose was a night [Bbm] fighter, Billy [Db] Rose knew trouble [Ab] like the sound of [Eb] his own name.
[Bbm] Busted on a drunken [Db] charge, driving someone else's [Dbm] car, the local midnight sheriff's [Ab] claim to fame.
In an Arizona jail, [Cm] there is some will tell the [Bbm] tale, how Billy [Db] fought the sergeant [Cm] for some milk that he demanded.
[Eb] [Bbm] Knowing they'd remain the boss, [Db] knowing he would pay the cost, [Dbm] they saw he was [Ab] severely reprimanded.
[Fm] In the black, a [Cm] cell on a block, [Fm] he hanged [Cm] himself, but don't [Fm] [Cm] step to the bunkhead.
[Bbm] Don't mess with me, [Eb] just take me home.
[Fm] Come and lay, help [Eb] us lay, young [Ab] Billy down.
[Eb] [Ab] Luna was a Mexican, [Cm] the law calls an alien, [Bbm] for coming across [Db] the border [Cm] with a baby and a [Eb] wife.
[Bbm] While the clothes upon his [Db] back were wet, still he thought that he could get [Dbm] some money and things to [Ab] start a life.
It hadn't been too very [Eb] long when it [Cm] seemed like everything went [Bbm] wrong, didn't [Db] even have the [Cm] time to find [Eb] themselves a home.
[Bbm] When this foreigner, brown skinned [Db] male, thrown inside a Texas [Dbm] jail, left the wife and baby [Ab] quite alone.
[Fm] He eased the pain [Cm]
inside [Fm] him, with a needle [Cm] in his arm, [Fm] but the dope just [Cm] crucified him, [Bbm] and he died to no [Eb] one's great alarm.
[Fm] Come and lay, [Eb] help us lay, poor [Ab] Luna down, [Fm] and we'll raise, [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
Kilowatt was an aging [Cm] con of 65, who stood a [Bbm] chance to stay [Db] alive and leave the [Cm] joint and walk the [Eb] streets again.
[Bbm] At the time he was to leave [Db] Juneer, he suffered all the joy and [Dbm] fear of leaving 35 [Ab] years in the pen.
Then on the day of his [Cm] release he was approached by the [Bbm] police, who took him [Db] to the warden [Cm] walking [Eb] slowly by his side.
[Bbm] The warden said you won't [Db] remain here, but it seems the state retainer [Dbm] claims another 10 years [Ab] of your life.
He [Fm] stepped out in the [Cm] Texas sunlight, [Fm] and the cops all [Cm] stood around.
[Fm] Oh, [Cm] Kilowatt ran 50 yards, [Bbm] then threw himself down [Eb] on the ground.
They [Fm] might as well [Eb] just have laid that [Ab] old man down.
But [Fm] we're gonna raise, [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
Help [Fm] us raise, [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
[N]
Key:
Cm
Eb
Ab
Bbm
Fm
Cm
Eb
Ab
[Gm] _ [Ab] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Billy Rose was a low [Cm] rider, Billy Rose was a night [Bbm] fighter, Billy [Db] Rose knew trouble [Ab] like the sound of [Eb] his own name.
_ [Bbm] Busted on a drunken [Db] charge, driving someone else's [Dbm] car, the local midnight sheriff's [Ab] claim to fame.
_ In an Arizona jail, [Cm] there is some will tell the [Bbm] tale, how Billy [Db] fought the sergeant [Cm] for some milk that he demanded.
[Eb] _ _ [Bbm] Knowing they'd remain the boss, [Db] knowing he would pay the cost, [Dbm] they saw he was [Ab] severely _ reprimanded. _ _ _
_ [Fm] In the black, a [Cm] cell on a block, [Fm] he _ hanged [Cm] himself, but don't _ [Fm] _ _ [Cm] step to the bunkhead.
_ [Bbm] Don't mess with me, [Eb] just take me home.
[Fm] Come and lay, help [Eb] us lay, young [Ab] Billy down. _ _ _ _
_ [Eb] [Ab] Luna was a Mexican, [Cm] the law calls an alien, [Bbm] for coming across [Db] the border [Cm] with a baby and a [Eb] wife.
_ [Bbm] While the clothes upon his [Db] back were wet, still he thought that he could get [Dbm] some money and things to [Ab] start a life.
It hadn't been too very [Eb] long when it [Cm] seemed like everything went [Bbm] wrong, didn't [Db] even have the [Cm] time to find [Eb] themselves a home.
[Bbm] When this foreigner, brown skinned [Db] male, thrown inside a Texas [Dbm] jail, left the wife and baby [Ab] quite alone. _ _ _
_ _ _ [Fm] He eased the pain [Cm]
inside [Fm] him, with a needle [Cm] in his arm, [Fm] but the dope just [Cm] crucified him, [Bbm] and he died to no [Eb] one's great alarm.
[Fm] Come and lay, [Eb] help us _ lay, poor [Ab] Luna down, _ _ _ _ [Fm] and we'll raise, [Eb] raise the prisons _ [Ab] to the _ ground. _ _
_ _ _ Kilowatt was an aging [Cm] con of 65, who stood a [Bbm] chance to stay [Db] alive and leave the [Cm] joint and walk the [Eb] streets again.
[Bbm] At the time he was to leave [Db] Juneer, he suffered all the joy and [Dbm] fear of leaving 35 [Ab] years in the pen. _ _ _ _ _
Then on the day of his [Cm] release he was approached by the [Bbm] police, who took him [Db] to the warden [Cm] walking [Eb] slowly by his side.
[Bbm] The warden said you won't [Db] remain here, but it seems the state retainer [Dbm] claims another 10 years [Ab] of your _ life.
_ _ He [Fm] stepped out in the [Cm] Texas sunlight, _ [Fm] and the cops all [Cm] stood around.
_ _ [Fm] Oh, _ [Cm] Kilowatt ran 50 yards, [Bbm] then threw himself down [Eb] on the ground.
They [Fm] might as _ well [Eb] just have laid that [Ab] old man down.
_ _ _ But [Fm] we're gonna _ raise, [Eb] raise the prisons _ [Ab] to the _ ground.
_ _ Help [Fm] us raise, _ [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _
Billy Rose was a low [Cm] rider, Billy Rose was a night [Bbm] fighter, Billy [Db] Rose knew trouble [Ab] like the sound of [Eb] his own name.
_ [Bbm] Busted on a drunken [Db] charge, driving someone else's [Dbm] car, the local midnight sheriff's [Ab] claim to fame.
_ In an Arizona jail, [Cm] there is some will tell the [Bbm] tale, how Billy [Db] fought the sergeant [Cm] for some milk that he demanded.
[Eb] _ _ [Bbm] Knowing they'd remain the boss, [Db] knowing he would pay the cost, [Dbm] they saw he was [Ab] severely _ reprimanded. _ _ _
_ [Fm] In the black, a [Cm] cell on a block, [Fm] he _ hanged [Cm] himself, but don't _ [Fm] _ _ [Cm] step to the bunkhead.
_ [Bbm] Don't mess with me, [Eb] just take me home.
[Fm] Come and lay, help [Eb] us lay, young [Ab] Billy down. _ _ _ _
_ [Eb] [Ab] Luna was a Mexican, [Cm] the law calls an alien, [Bbm] for coming across [Db] the border [Cm] with a baby and a [Eb] wife.
_ [Bbm] While the clothes upon his [Db] back were wet, still he thought that he could get [Dbm] some money and things to [Ab] start a life.
It hadn't been too very [Eb] long when it [Cm] seemed like everything went [Bbm] wrong, didn't [Db] even have the [Cm] time to find [Eb] themselves a home.
[Bbm] When this foreigner, brown skinned [Db] male, thrown inside a Texas [Dbm] jail, left the wife and baby [Ab] quite alone. _ _ _
_ _ _ [Fm] He eased the pain [Cm]
inside [Fm] him, with a needle [Cm] in his arm, [Fm] but the dope just [Cm] crucified him, [Bbm] and he died to no [Eb] one's great alarm.
[Fm] Come and lay, [Eb] help us _ lay, poor [Ab] Luna down, _ _ _ _ [Fm] and we'll raise, [Eb] raise the prisons _ [Ab] to the _ ground. _ _
_ _ _ Kilowatt was an aging [Cm] con of 65, who stood a [Bbm] chance to stay [Db] alive and leave the [Cm] joint and walk the [Eb] streets again.
[Bbm] At the time he was to leave [Db] Juneer, he suffered all the joy and [Dbm] fear of leaving 35 [Ab] years in the pen. _ _ _ _ _
Then on the day of his [Cm] release he was approached by the [Bbm] police, who took him [Db] to the warden [Cm] walking [Eb] slowly by his side.
[Bbm] The warden said you won't [Db] remain here, but it seems the state retainer [Dbm] claims another 10 years [Ab] of your _ life.
_ _ He [Fm] stepped out in the [Cm] Texas sunlight, _ [Fm] and the cops all [Cm] stood around.
_ _ [Fm] Oh, _ [Cm] Kilowatt ran 50 yards, [Bbm] then threw himself down [Eb] on the ground.
They [Fm] might as _ well [Eb] just have laid that [Ab] old man down.
_ _ _ But [Fm] we're gonna _ raise, [Eb] raise the prisons _ [Ab] to the _ ground.
_ _ Help [Fm] us raise, _ [Eb] raise the prisons [Ab] to the ground.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _
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