The hanging tree

C

1. I came to town to search for gold,

G

and I brought with me a memory,

G7 Em

and I seem to hear the night wind cry,

F C

"Go hang your dreams on the hangin' tree,

F C ~

your dreams of love that could never be (could never be) -

- - - - - - G C

hang your faded dreams on the hangin' tree!" (The hanging tree !)

C

2. I searched tor gold and I found my gold,

G

and I found a girl who loved just me,

G7 Em

and I wished that I could love her too,

F C

but I'd left my heart on the hangin' tree,

F C ~

I'd left my heart with a memory (a memory) -

- - - G C

and a faded dream on the hangin' tree. (The hanging tree !)

C

3. Now there were men who craved my gold,

G

and meant to take my gold from me.

G7 Em

When a man is gone, he needs no gold,

F C

so they carried me to the hangin' tree,

F C ~

to join my dreams and a memory (and a memory) -

- - - - - - G C

yes, they carried me to the hangin' tree. (The hanging tree !)

C

4. To really live you must almost die,

G

and it happened just that way with me.

G7 Em

They took the gold and set me free,

F C

and I walked away from the hangin' tree,

F C ~

I walked away from the hangin' tree ( the hangin' tree) -

- - - - - G C

and my own true love, she walked with me!

F Em

That's when I knew that the hangin' tree

F C

was a tree of life, new life for me,

F C F C

a tree of hope, new hope for me, a tree of love, new love tor me,

F C

the hangin' tree, the hangin' tree, the hangin' tree!

(capo 1st, the original version progresses

by half a note / one fret per stanza)

(Marty Robbins)