Cottonwood tree
A - D
D A
1. I rode into Tucson three hours ago,
A7 D
for
supplies and a short friendly game
D
A
of poker while Smitty put some new shoes
A7 D
on
old Dan before he goes lame.
D
A
2. I sat in a game at the Miner's Saloon,
A7 D
soon
I had doubled my stake,
D A
the
cards run like they'd been dealt by Lady Luck,
A7 D
they
were just sealin' my fate.
G
D
A young cowboy lost more than
he could afford,
G D
and accused me of dealin' too smart.
G
D
His draw was too slow and he
fell to the floor
A D
with
three bullets close to the heart.
G Fm# A D
Oh, cottonwood tree are you waiting for me, waiting to take me away,
G D
I've done no wrong but the town cannot see,
A A7 D
and so with my life I must pay.
D A
3. A crowd started gatherin', the sheriff came
in,
A7 D
I handed him over my gun,
D A
was
then when I found out the boy I had killed
A7 D
was
the town's biggest man's only son.
D A
4. I tried to explain I had shot in defense,
A7 D
it was the young
cowboy or me,
D A
the
crowd wouldn't listen, so they drug me out
A7
D
to the limb of this cottonwood tree.
D A
5. Majestically standing out here all alone
A7 D
it's spring and the
valley is green,
D
A
but I
can't admire a place I don't belong,
A7 D
to me it's all like a bad dream.
G D
But old Dan's beneath me with
new shows and all,
G D
as
they place the noose round my neck.
G D
Cowboys I've never laid eyes
on before
A
D
are tyin' my hands to
my back.
G Fm# A D
Oh, cottonwood tree are you waiting for me, waiting to take me away,
G D
I've done no wrong but the town cannot see,
A A7 D
and so with my life I must pay.
D A
6. I see hate in the eyes of the town's biggest man,
A7
D
as he
pulls a branch from the tree
D
A
to
whip the backside of my old pony Dan,
A7
D
so
he'll run out from under me.
D
A
7. Insane he won't listen to my last appeal,
A7 D
a wild grin has covered his face,
D
A
as I
tried to reason just how he would feel,
A7 D
if he were up here in my place.
D A
8. There's many a mountain trail I'll never ride,
A7 D
green valleys I'll never see,
D
A
a
young cowboy died and a man's foolish pride
A7 D
brought me to this cottonwood tree.
G
D
My face is turned upward and I
cannot breathe,
G
D
the sky's growing dark overhead,
G
D
the
knot's pulling tight as my body sweeps free,
A D
a few
moments more I'll be dead.
G Fm# A D
Oh, cottonwood tree are you waiting for me, waiting to take me away,
G D
I've done no wrong but the town cannot see,
A A7 D
and so with my life I must pay.
(Marty Robbins)