The Banks Of The Musselshell Chords by Tom Russell

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_ _ _ _ _ _ I stare out every evening [E] at the distant [B] northern star _ _
It leads us ever northward [E] and it tells us [B] that we are
Lost [A] below the Yellowstone _ in a land unknown [B] to me
_ Ten [D#] thousand [E] miles from my loved one _ and my home [B] across the sea _ _
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We travel through an empty land, the benches are all strewn _
With vines and bones that shine ghost white
Neat [E] the rising of [B] the moon and [D#] the red wolf [A] howls in answer
_ _ _ As I try to sing [B] on _ guard, _ _ [D#] indentured to [E] these _ Texans _
In a land so wild [B] and hard _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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I hired on to build you charm in the heat of the Texas sun _
I was unaware of his darker side, [E] his quickness [B] with a gun
[E] But I made [A] a solemn promise, _ _ _ oh I'd ride with him [B] through hell _
_ Deliver the herd to [E] the ends of the earth or [B] the mouth of a mussel shell _
Well _ _ _ I just turned about _ sixteen when we [E] hit that [B] first cow town
_ I drank my first strong liquor, oh and the [E] women [B] spun me round
But of all the [A] barroom angels, _ _ with their soft forbidden [B] _ charms
I stuck on Blue [E]-Eyed Annie, _ who belonged to [B] build you charm _ _ _ _
And [A] the boy [E] became a man, _ [A] that night in [F#] Annie's arms
_ [A] Oh Annie cried [E] and begged me, _ [F#] beware of build you charm
_ _ _ _ [B] We left that Texas cow town and [E] we pointed the [B] big herd north
But the first night when the moon was down I [E] rode back to [B] old Fort Worth
They were closing up [A] the barroom, _ _ oh they were rolling up [B] the floor
_ My heart was in [E] my mouth as I knocked on [B] Annie's door _ _ _ _
And [A] the boy [E] became a man, that [A] night in [F#] Annie's arms
[A] Oh Annie [E] cried and begged me, _ [F#] beware of build you charm
_ _ _ _ [B] Oh build you charm had one bad [E] eye and his face was [B] a devilish red
The result of a bygone prairie fire when [E] he crawled back [B] from the dead
And every [A] night in dreams _ _ as I rolled in [B] Annie's arms
I'd awake to face [E] old Satan in the guise of [B] build you charm _ _ _ _ _
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_ And each night across the _ campfire [E] I'd face that [B] one bad eye
Did he know that I'd betrayed him, [E] had my hour come to die
One [A] promise he made true, _ _ oh we rode with him [B] through hell
We delivered the herd [E] to the ends of the earth and the mouth of the [B] mussel shell _
_ _ _ _ [A] And the boy [E] became a man, _ [A] that night [F#m] in Annie's arms
[A] Oh Annie cried [E] and begged me, _ [F#] beware of build you charm
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And as we near the Yellowstone, [E] the snow [B] begins to fall
And soon this dreadful enterprise [E] shall be ending [B] for us all
It's then I'll [A] leave that poor soul, _ _ all to fly to _ [B] Annie's arms
And stay one [E] jump ahead of the guns of [B] build you charm
_ _ _ _ [A] And the boy [E] became a man, _ [A] that night in [F#] Annie's arms
[A] Oh Annie cried [E] and begged me, _ [F#] beware of build you charm
Oh [A] the boy [E] became a man, that [A] night in [F#] Annie's arms
[A] _ Annie [E] cried and begged me, [F#] _ beware of build you charm
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