Coward of the County

Accordi Coward of the County

Intro:
DO

DO                          FA            DO

Everyone considered him the coward of the county
                     
He'd never stood one single time 
                    SOL7
to prove the county wrong
    DO             
His mama named him Tommy, 
    FA                    DO

but folks just called him Yellow
                     
But something always told me, 
          SOL           DO

they were reading Tommy wrong

He was only ten years old 
         FA            DO

when his daddy died in prison

I looked after Tommy, 
                           SOL7
'cause he was my brother's son
  DO                      
I still recall the final words 
   FA              DO

my brother said to Tommy
                           SOL              DO

"Son, my life is over, but yours has just begun"

 DO                      FA                 DO

"Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done
FA             DO             SOL

Walk away from trouble if you can
    DO
Now it won't mean you're weak 
       FA             DO

if you turn the other cheek
                   FA            SOL

I hope you're old enough to understand
     SOL7                            DO

Son, you don't have to fight to be a man"

REb
There's someone for everyone 
    SOLb             REb

and Tommy's love was Becky
                                              LAb7
In her arms, he didn't have to prove he was a man
    REb              REb7

One day while he was working, 
    SOLb             REb

the Gatlin boys came calling

They took turns at Becky an' 
LAb                 REb

 there was three of them
                             SOLb      REb

Tommy opened up the door and saw Becky crying
                                     
The torn dress, the shattered look was more 
              LAb7
than he could stand
   REb              
He reached above the fireplace 
         SOLb             REb

and took down his daddy's picture
                           
As his tears fell on his daddy's face, 
   LAb                REb

he heard these words again

 REb                     SOLb               REb

"Promise me, Son, not to do the things I've done
SOLb           REb            LAb

Walk away from trouble if you can
    REb
Now it won't mean you're weak 
       SOLb           REb

if you turn the other cheek
                   SOLb          LAb

I hope you're old enough to understand
                                     REb
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man"

RE
The Gatlin boys just laughed at him 
        SOL             RE

when he walked into the bar room
                    
One of them got up and met him 
                   LA7
half way cross the floor
     RE
When Tommy turned around they said, 
     SOL                RE

"Hey look! Old Yellow's leaving"
                            
But you could've heard a pin drop 
        LA                        RE

when Tommy stopped and locked the door
                             SOL          RE

Twenty years of crawling was bottled up inside him

He wasn't holding nothing back, 
                   LA7
he let 'em have it all
     RE
When Tommy left the bar room, 
      SOL            RE

not a Gatlin boy was standing
                      
He said, "This one's for Becky", 
      LA                   RE

as he watched the last one fall

And I heard him say

   RE
"I promised you, Dad, 
       SOL                  RE

not to do the things you've done
  SOL            RE             LA

I walk away from trouble when I can
    RE
Now please don't think I'm weak, 
         SOL            RE

I didn't turn the other cheek
                   SOL           LA

And Papa, I should hope you understand
    LA7                                 RE

Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man"

RE                          SOL                 RE

Everyone considered him the coward of the county

## Credits

Autori: BOWLING ROGER, WHEELER BILLY EDD BILL Copyright: © UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING