Coward Of The County Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Intro 1]
[C][C][C][C]

[Verse 1]
[C]Everyone considered him
the [F]coward of the [C]county
He'd never stood one single time
to prove the county [G]wrong
His [C]mama named him Tommy,
but [F]folks just called him [C]Yellow
But something always told me,
they were [G]reading Tommy [C]wrong
He was only ten years old
when his [F]daddy died in [C]prison
I looked after Tommy,
'cause he was my brother's [G]son
I [C]still recall the final words
my [F]brother said to [C]Tommy
"Son, my life is over,
but [G]yours has just [C]begun"

[Chorus 1]
[C]"Promise me, son,
not to [F]do the things I've [C]done
[F]Walk away from [C]trouble
if you [G]can
Now [C]it won't mean you're weak
if you [F]turn the other [C]cheek
I hope you're old [F]enough to under[G]stand
Son, you don't have to fight
to be a [C]man"

[Verse 2]
There's [Db]someone for everyone
and [Gb]Tommy's love was [Db]Becky
In her arms, he didn't have
to prove he was a [Ab]man
One [Db]day while he was working,
the [Gb]Gatlin boys came [Db]calling
They took turns at Becky
[Ab]an' there was three of them[Db]
Tommy opened up the door
and [Gb]saw his Becky [Db]crying
The torn dress, the shattered look
was more than he could [Ab]stand
He [Db]reached above the fireplace
and took [Gb]down his daddy's [Db]picture
As his tears fell on his daddy's face,
he [Ab]heard these words [Db]again

[Chorus 2]
[Db]"Promise me, son,
not to [Gb]do the things I've do[Db]ne
[Gb]Walk away from [Db]trouble if you [Ab]can
Now [Db]it won't mean you're weak
if you [Gb]turn the other [Db]cheek
I hope you're old [Gb]enough to under[Ab]stand
Son, you don't have to fight
to be a [Db]man"

[Verse 3]
The [D]Gatlin boys just laughed at him
when he [G]walked into the [D]bar room
One of them got up
and met him half way cross the [A]floor
When [D]Tommy turned around they said,
"Hey [G]look! Old Yellow's [D]leaving"
But you could've heard a pin drop when
[A]Tommy stopped and locked the [D]door
Twenty years of crawling
was [G]bottled up in[D]side him
He wasn't holding nothing back,
he let 'em have it [A]all
When [D]Tommy left the bar room,
not a [G]Gatlin boy was [D]standing
He said, "This one's for Becky",
as he [A]watched the last one [D]fall
And I heard him say

[Chorus 3]
"I [D]promised you, Dad,
not to [G]do the things you've [D]done
I [G]walk away from [D]trouble when I [A]can
Now [D]please don't think I'm weak,
I didn't [G]turn the other [D]cheek
And Papa, I should [G]hope you under[A]stand
Sometimes you gotta fight
when you're a [D]man"
Everyone considered him
the [G]coward of the [D]county