down the river Chords by Chris Knight

[Bm] [D] .
[Bm] [D] .
[Bm] I was [G] 18, [D] my brother was 21.
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[Bm] One Saturday evening, [D] when all the work was done,.
[A] we went down to the river, [G] had some tried lines to run.
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[B] [Bm] My brother Walter [D] had a fight the week before.
[Bm] Knocked a boy named Wilson [D] through the pool hall door.
They [A] said, you don't mess with Wilson [G].
unless you want a war.
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[Bm] I put the boat in the water and [D] I made the engine run.
[Bm] I loaded the lantern [D] against the sinking sun.
[A] And my brother Walter [Dm] [G] was loading his gun.
[D] And we [A] went down [B] the river, .
[D] [Bm] [D] .
[B] down [Bm] past the coal dots.
[D] We were running our line, [Bm] heard some drunken boaters [D] racing up behind.
[A] It was Wilson and his cousin, [G] they had trouble on their mind.
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[Bm] They passed on by, [D] probably going to end their fight.
[B] [Bm] We headed up the river [D] with the fish we caught.
[A] But before we made the [D] landing, [G] I thought I heard a shout.
[D] Back [A] down [Bm] the river, .
[D] [Bm] .
[D] [A] [D] .
[G] .
[B] [Bm] my brother Walter [D] fell over the side.
[B] [Bm] I couldn't find him, [D] no matter how I [A] tried.
And I looked along the bank, [G] but I couldn't find where they'd hide.
[Bm] They drug the river, [D] they searched it up and down.
[Bm] Couldn't find his body, [D] so they decided that he'd drown.
[A] But I knew better [G] than Wilson bragged around town.
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[Bm] So one night I floated down, [D] right above Wilson's shack.
[Bm] I hid in the woods, [D] until I saw him walk out [A] back.
Put a bullet in his head, [G] dropped him in his tracks.
[D] Then we [A] went [Bm] down the river, .
[D] [Bm] .
[D] [A] .
[G] .
[Bm] down below the trestle, [D] where the water runs slow.
[Bm] I chained him to an anvil, [D] and then I let him go.
[A] And five years later, [G] I ain't told the soul.
[Bm] And I ain't done much fishing, [D] I hardly wet a line.
[Bm] The death of my brother [D] is still heavy on my mind.
[A] I've been thinking, Wilson's cousin, [G] better find a place to hide.
[D] Cause [A] I'm going [Bm] down the river.
[D] Yeah, [A] I'm going [Bm] down the river.
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[Bm] [D] [G] [D] .
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