Chords for Johnny Cash - That Ragged Old Flag
Tempo:
134.15 bpm
Chords used:
Bb
F
C
Eb
D
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
John, how do you feel about burning the flag?
Do you feel like we should have a law against burning [C] the flag?
An amendment, if you will?
Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
[Eb] When I see somebody here about burning the flag,
I think about the time that June and I went to Vietnam in 1969
[B] and saw the burning [Bb] flesh.
[E] The boys [Eb] coming in from the [Db] helicopters on the stretchers with the flesh burn,
falling off from the napalm on their bodies.
And you never forget the [D] smell of that.
[A] But anyway, back to the flag.
I think [B] of that, whether we were, you know, whether the Vietnam War [C] was right or not,
there are a lot of people who sacrificed their lives for it
and their time and their [F] brains.
And whether or not we were right in being there when we went, that wasn't the issue.
It's that Americans were [Eb] there dying for [Db] me and dying for that flag.
So, you know, I think if you're going to burn the American [D] flag, you ought to take it to [Bb] Iran.
But I still [Eb] cherish those freedoms, you know.
Like, if I got a week off next week, I can go and do anything I want to in this United States.
[F]
And there's not many countries you can [Gb] do that in.
And I cherish all of the freedoms that we got, including the freedom, [E] the right to burn the flag.
But I also got [Eb] the right to bear arms, and if you burn mine, I'll [C] shoot you.
John, you wrote a song once, and I think you may have written it while you were in the Air Force,
called [F] Ragged Old Flag.
No, I wrote that in 1975.
Did you?
Mm-hmm.
In Binghamton, New York.
I saw you do it [N] on the 4th of July, several years ago, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Could you do it for us right now?
Ragged Old Flag.
[Bb]
[E] I walked through a county [D] courthouse square, and on a park bench, an old man was sitting there.
I said, your old courthouse is kind of run down.
He said, no, that'll do for our little town.
I said, your old flagpole's kind of leaned a little bit, and that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it.
[Bb] He said, have a seat.
And I said, now, is this the first time you've come to our little town?
I said, I think it is.
He said, I don't like to brag, but we're kind of proud of that ragged old flag.
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder burned the night Frances Scott Key set up watching it right in Sakin, you see.
Got a little rip in New Orleans with Packingham and Jackson tugging at it, it seems.
It almost fell at the Alamo [F] beside the Texas flag, but she waved on, though.
[C] It got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville.
Got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E.
[B] Lee, Beauregard, and [E] Bragg, and the south wind blew hard on that [Abm] ragged old flag.
On Flanders Field in World War I, she took a bad hit from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red [C] in World War [Bb] II.
She hung [A] limp and [Bb] low by [Db] the time that one was through.
[Bb] She was in Korea, Vietnam.
[D] She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
[A] The Native American Indians, [Abm] the blacks, the yellow, the [D] white, all shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes.
And in her own good land here, she's been abused.
[Gb] She's been burned, dishonored, denied, refused.
And the very government for which she [Bb] stands is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare.
[Abm] She's wearing kind of thin.
[Bb] But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
Because she's been through the fire before, and she can take a whole lot more.
So we raise her up every morning, [B] and we bring her down slowly every night.
We don't let her touch the ground, and we [F] fold her up right.
On second [Dm] thought, I guess I do like [F] to brag.
[Db] Because I'm mighty proud of [G] that ragged old flag.
[Bb]
Do you feel like we should have a law against burning [C] the flag?
An amendment, if you will?
Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
[Eb] When I see somebody here about burning the flag,
I think about the time that June and I went to Vietnam in 1969
[B] and saw the burning [Bb] flesh.
[E] The boys [Eb] coming in from the [Db] helicopters on the stretchers with the flesh burn,
falling off from the napalm on their bodies.
And you never forget the [D] smell of that.
[A] But anyway, back to the flag.
I think [B] of that, whether we were, you know, whether the Vietnam War [C] was right or not,
there are a lot of people who sacrificed their lives for it
and their time and their [F] brains.
And whether or not we were right in being there when we went, that wasn't the issue.
It's that Americans were [Eb] there dying for [Db] me and dying for that flag.
So, you know, I think if you're going to burn the American [D] flag, you ought to take it to [Bb] Iran.
But I still [Eb] cherish those freedoms, you know.
Like, if I got a week off next week, I can go and do anything I want to in this United States.
[F]
And there's not many countries you can [Gb] do that in.
And I cherish all of the freedoms that we got, including the freedom, [E] the right to burn the flag.
But I also got [Eb] the right to bear arms, and if you burn mine, I'll [C] shoot you.
John, you wrote a song once, and I think you may have written it while you were in the Air Force,
called [F] Ragged Old Flag.
No, I wrote that in 1975.
Did you?
Mm-hmm.
In Binghamton, New York.
I saw you do it [N] on the 4th of July, several years ago, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Could you do it for us right now?
Ragged Old Flag.
[Bb]
[E] I walked through a county [D] courthouse square, and on a park bench, an old man was sitting there.
I said, your old courthouse is kind of run down.
He said, no, that'll do for our little town.
I said, your old flagpole's kind of leaned a little bit, and that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it.
[Bb] He said, have a seat.
And I said, now, is this the first time you've come to our little town?
I said, I think it is.
He said, I don't like to brag, but we're kind of proud of that ragged old flag.
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder burned the night Frances Scott Key set up watching it right in Sakin, you see.
Got a little rip in New Orleans with Packingham and Jackson tugging at it, it seems.
It almost fell at the Alamo [F] beside the Texas flag, but she waved on, though.
[C] It got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville.
Got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E.
[B] Lee, Beauregard, and [E] Bragg, and the south wind blew hard on that [Abm] ragged old flag.
On Flanders Field in World War I, she took a bad hit from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red [C] in World War [Bb] II.
She hung [A] limp and [Bb] low by [Db] the time that one was through.
[Bb] She was in Korea, Vietnam.
[D] She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
[A] The Native American Indians, [Abm] the blacks, the yellow, the [D] white, all shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes.
And in her own good land here, she's been abused.
[Gb] She's been burned, dishonored, denied, refused.
And the very government for which she [Bb] stands is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare.
[Abm] She's wearing kind of thin.
[Bb] But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
Because she's been through the fire before, and she can take a whole lot more.
So we raise her up every morning, [B] and we bring her down slowly every night.
We don't let her touch the ground, and we [F] fold her up right.
On second [Dm] thought, I guess I do like [F] to brag.
[Db] Because I'm mighty proud of [G] that ragged old flag.
[Bb]
Key:
Bb
F
C
Eb
D
Bb
F
C
_ _ _ _ John, how do you feel about _ burning the flag?
_ Do you feel like we should have _ _ a law against burning [C] the flag? _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ An amendment, if you will?
_ _ _ Yeah. _
Yeah, I do.
_ _ _ [Eb] When I see somebody here about burning the flag, _
I think about the time that June and I went to _ Vietnam _ in 1969
[B] and saw the burning [Bb] flesh.
_ [E] The boys [Eb] coming in from the [Db] helicopters on the stretchers with the _ flesh burn,
falling off from the napalm on their bodies.
_ _ _ And you never forget the [D] smell of that.
_ [A] But anyway, back to the flag.
_ _ _ I think [B] of that, whether we were, you know, whether the Vietnam War [C] was right or not,
_ there are a lot of people who sacrificed their lives for it
and their time and their [F] brains. _ _ _ _
_ And _ whether or not we were right in being there when we went, that wasn't the issue.
It's that _ Americans were [Eb] there dying for [Db] me and _ _ dying for that flag. _ _ _
So, you know, I think if you're going to burn the American [D] flag, you ought to take it to [Bb] Iran.
_ _ _ But I still [Eb] cherish those freedoms, you know. _
Like, if I got a week off next week, I can go and do anything I want to in this United States.
_ [F] _
And there's not many countries you can [Gb] do that in.
And I cherish all of the freedoms that we got, including the freedom, [E] the right to burn the flag.
But I also got [Eb] the right to bear arms, and if you burn mine, I'll [C] shoot you. _
_ _ John, you wrote a song once, and I think you may have written it while you were in the Air Force,
called [F] Ragged Old Flag.
No, I wrote that in 1975.
Did you?
Mm-hmm.
In Binghamton, New York.
_ _ I saw you do it _ [N] on the 4th of July, _ several years ago, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Could you do it for us right now?
Ragged Old Flag. _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] I walked through a county [D] courthouse square, _ and on a park bench, an old man was sitting there. _
_ I said, your old courthouse is kind of run down.
He said, no, that'll do for our little town. _ _
I said, your old flagpole's kind of leaned a little bit, and that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it.
_ [Bb] He said, have a seat.
And I said, now, is this the first time you've come to our little town?
I said, I think it is.
He said, I don't like to brag, but _ we're kind of proud of that _ _ ragged old flag. _ _ _ _
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when Washington took it across the Delaware.
_ _ And it got powder burned the night Frances Scott Key set up watching it right in _ Sakin, you see. _ _ _
_ Got a little rip in New Orleans with Packingham and Jackson tugging at it, it seems.
_ It almost fell at the Alamo [F] beside the Texas flag, but she waved on, though.
_ [C] It got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville.
_ Got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E.
[B] Lee, Beauregard, and [E] Bragg, and the south wind blew hard on that [Abm] _ ragged old flag. _
_ _ _ On Flanders Field in World War I, _ she took a bad hit from a Bertha gun.
_ She turned blood red [C] in World War [Bb] II.
She hung [A] limp and [Bb] low by [Db] the time that one was through.
[Bb] _ She was in Korea, _ Vietnam.
_ [D] She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
_ [A] The Native American Indians, [Abm] the blacks, the yellow, the [D] white, all shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes.
_ _ And in her own good land here, she's been abused.
_ [Gb] She's been burned, dishonored, denied, refused.
And the very government for which she [Bb] stands _ is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare.
_ [Abm] She's wearing kind of thin. _
_ _ [Bb] _ But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
Because she's been through the fire before, and she can take a whole lot more.
So we raise her up every morning, [B] and we bring her down slowly every night.
We don't let her touch the ground, and we [F] fold her up right. _ _ _ _
On second [Dm] thought, _ I guess I do like [F] to brag.
[Db] Because I'm mighty proud of [G] that _ ragged old flag.
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _
_ Do you feel like we should have _ _ a law against burning [C] the flag? _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ An amendment, if you will?
_ _ _ Yeah. _
Yeah, I do.
_ _ _ [Eb] When I see somebody here about burning the flag, _
I think about the time that June and I went to _ Vietnam _ in 1969
[B] and saw the burning [Bb] flesh.
_ [E] The boys [Eb] coming in from the [Db] helicopters on the stretchers with the _ flesh burn,
falling off from the napalm on their bodies.
_ _ _ And you never forget the [D] smell of that.
_ [A] But anyway, back to the flag.
_ _ _ I think [B] of that, whether we were, you know, whether the Vietnam War [C] was right or not,
_ there are a lot of people who sacrificed their lives for it
and their time and their [F] brains. _ _ _ _
_ And _ whether or not we were right in being there when we went, that wasn't the issue.
It's that _ Americans were [Eb] there dying for [Db] me and _ _ dying for that flag. _ _ _
So, you know, I think if you're going to burn the American [D] flag, you ought to take it to [Bb] Iran.
_ _ _ But I still [Eb] cherish those freedoms, you know. _
Like, if I got a week off next week, I can go and do anything I want to in this United States.
_ [F] _
And there's not many countries you can [Gb] do that in.
And I cherish all of the freedoms that we got, including the freedom, [E] the right to burn the flag.
But I also got [Eb] the right to bear arms, and if you burn mine, I'll [C] shoot you. _
_ _ John, you wrote a song once, and I think you may have written it while you were in the Air Force,
called [F] Ragged Old Flag.
No, I wrote that in 1975.
Did you?
Mm-hmm.
In Binghamton, New York.
_ _ I saw you do it _ [N] on the 4th of July, _ several years ago, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Could you do it for us right now?
Ragged Old Flag. _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] I walked through a county [D] courthouse square, _ and on a park bench, an old man was sitting there. _
_ I said, your old courthouse is kind of run down.
He said, no, that'll do for our little town. _ _
I said, your old flagpole's kind of leaned a little bit, and that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it.
_ [Bb] He said, have a seat.
And I said, now, is this the first time you've come to our little town?
I said, I think it is.
He said, I don't like to brag, but _ we're kind of proud of that _ _ ragged old flag. _ _ _ _
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when Washington took it across the Delaware.
_ _ And it got powder burned the night Frances Scott Key set up watching it right in _ Sakin, you see. _ _ _
_ Got a little rip in New Orleans with Packingham and Jackson tugging at it, it seems.
_ It almost fell at the Alamo [F] beside the Texas flag, but she waved on, though.
_ [C] It got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville.
_ Got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E.
[B] Lee, Beauregard, and [E] Bragg, and the south wind blew hard on that [Abm] _ ragged old flag. _
_ _ _ On Flanders Field in World War I, _ she took a bad hit from a Bertha gun.
_ She turned blood red [C] in World War [Bb] II.
She hung [A] limp and [Bb] low by [Db] the time that one was through.
[Bb] _ She was in Korea, _ Vietnam.
_ [D] She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
_ [A] The Native American Indians, [Abm] the blacks, the yellow, the [D] white, all shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes.
_ _ And in her own good land here, she's been abused.
_ [Gb] She's been burned, dishonored, denied, refused.
And the very government for which she [Bb] stands _ is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare.
_ [Abm] She's wearing kind of thin. _
_ _ [Bb] _ But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
Because she's been through the fire before, and she can take a whole lot more.
So we raise her up every morning, [B] and we bring her down slowly every night.
We don't let her touch the ground, and we [F] fold her up right. _ _ _ _
On second [Dm] thought, _ I guess I do like [F] to brag.
[Db] Because I'm mighty proud of [G] that _ ragged old flag.
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _