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Intro
A B D B
He sleeps out there, out where the coyotes wail,
D A E B
The reason he ain't at the bar with the boys,
B E B D A C#
Makes quite a dismal tale ...
A C D E A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
A C D E B
He oughtn't-a, shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, no siree.
C D
You don't get many callers,
E B
Sleeping on the lone prairie.
A C D E A
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
verse 1
A
Way out West we're wild and wooly,
A
In order to explain it fully:
C D C D
We're tall grown, all grown,
A
All the men are hairy-chested,
A
And all the women, double-breasted.
A
We're lady-like until molested,
B D E
And then we're on our own!
A C D E A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
A C D E B
He oughtn't-a shouldn't-a hadn't-a felt so free.
C D
His wife gets the insurance,
E B
And I'm sorry as can be,
A C D E A
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
verse 2
A
This here job is mighty tryin',
A
Sometimes the room is fairly flyin' with
C D C D
High-balls, eye-balls.
A
One got killed, somebody got 'im,
A
Tore up the joint from top to bottom.
A
I think I was that one that shot him,
B D E
As near as I recall.
A C D E A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
B A B E B
He massacred eight or nine men at the Lazy 'B'.
A C D A
He then took on the sheriff, and the sheriff's deputy,
A C D E B
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
verse 3
A
All you boys remember Harry,
A
The wrangler I was set to marry,
C D C D
A long man, strong man.
A
One night he yells, 'I'm from Texas!'
A
And socks me in my solar plexus.
A
Well having normal, good reflexes,
B D E
I knocked him on his can!
B D E F# B
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a blacked my eye,
E B D F C
I'm really a lovable, peaceable kind of guy.
C D E B
I wouldn't scare a rabbit, and I couldn't harm a flea,
B D E F# B
But he shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me.
Music 1
verse 4
A
If this story has a moral,
A
It's: When you're looking for a quarrel or
C D C D
Show Down. 'Slow down.'
A
If by now, you haven't mastered,
A
The gentle art of getting plastered,
A
You're just a Low-Down, you ain't mastered,
B D E
The motto of our town!
B D E F# B
You shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a start no fight,
D F C
Our burying ground is a most impressive sight.
C D E B
The message on them tombstones is as simple as can be,
D E B E C# F#
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me,
E F# C# F# D A
He shouldn't-a, hadn't-a, oughtn't-a swang on me!
Written by Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer