{"source":"Free Chord Book","source_url":"https://www.free-chords.com","license_note":"Free for personal use. Lyrics and compositions © their respective songwriters and publishers.","tab_id":2484465,"song":"Beside The Rio Grande","artist":"Strawbs","content_type":"chord","tab_type":"Chords","url":"https://www.free-chords.com/song/11506831-beside-the-rio-grande-chords-by-strawbs/","api_url":"https://www.free-chords.com/api/v1/songs/2484465?type=chord","rating":0,"votes":0,"content":"[Intro]\r\n[ch]Am[/ch]  [ch]Em[/ch]  [ch]Am[/ch]  [ch]G[/ch]\r\n\r\n[Verse]\r\n[tab]   [ch]Am[/ch]                                [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nIt happened rather suddenly that the Preacher came to town[/tab]\r\n[tab]     [ch]Am[/ch]                             [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWith stories from the testaments of men of great renown[/tab]\r\n[tab]         [ch]Am[/ch]                          [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWith his box of patent medicines, he swore to cure all ills[/tab]\r\n[tab]         [ch]Am[/ch]\r\nFrom the lameness in the horses, to the children's colds and chills[/tab]\r\n[tab]                                                     [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd he had along his Indian wife and a country music band[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                              [ch]F[/ch]            [ch]Am[/ch]      [ch]Em[/ch]  [ch]Am[/ch]  [ch]G[/ch]\r\nWho sang of peace and brotherhood beside the Rio Grande[/tab]\r\n\r\n[Verse]\r\n[tab]        [ch]Am[/ch]                                 [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nNow the Preacher quickly gathered sick and poor from miles around[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                             [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWho came to him for comfort and to hear his country sound[/tab]\r\n[tab]              [ch]Am[/ch]                             [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nBut the mayor thought he was trouble when he spoke against the law[/tab]\r\n[tab]       [ch]Am[/ch]\r\nAnd he saw the growing power of the crowds that he could draw[/tab]\r\n[tab]                                                          [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd he worried when the Preacher bought himself a plot of land[/tab]\r\n[tab]   [ch]Am[/ch]                       [ch]F[/ch]            [ch]Am[/ch]      [ch]Em[/ch]  [ch]Am[/ch]  [ch]G[/ch]\r\nTo settle with his family beside the Rio Grande[/tab]\r\n\r\n[Verse]\r\n[tab]      [ch]Am[/ch]                              [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nThe saloon was pretty crowded and the stakes was a-running high[/tab]\r\n[tab]        [ch]Am[/ch]                                [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd the girls sang sentimental songs that made us cowboys cry[/tab]\r\n[tab]     [ch]Am[/ch]                             [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWe began to criticise the Preacher, marrying a squaw[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]\r\nAnd how could he associate with cripples, drunks and whores[/tab]\r\n[tab]                                                            [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd in a crazy fit the Preacher scattered chips and winning hands[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                              [ch]F[/ch]            [ch]Am[/ch]      [ch]Em[/ch]  [ch]Am[/ch]  [ch]G[/ch]\r\nAnd condemned it as a den of vice beside the Rio Grande[/tab]\r\n\r\n[Verse]\r\n[tab]        [ch]Am[/ch]                             [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nNow the boys were drunk and rowdy, and mostly pretty mean[/tab]\r\n[tab]       [ch]Am[/ch]                                  [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd we dragged him to the sidewalk and we whipped his shoulders clean[/tab]\r\n[tab]   [ch]Am[/ch]                          [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWe said he was responsible for bringing on the drought[/tab]\r\n[tab]         [ch]Am[/ch]\r\nThat had burned off all the spring grass and had wiped the young herd out[/tab]\r\n[tab]                                                          [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nThe sheriff would not get involved, the law could take no hand[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                        [ch]F[/ch]\r\nThe Preacher had not harmed a soul[/tab]\r\n\r\n[Verse]\r\n[tab]   [ch]Am[/ch]                                   [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWe pegged him on the hillside alongside two Apache braves[/tab]\r\n[tab]           [ch]Am[/ch]                               [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nWho'd been given picks and shovels and been made to dig their graves[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                                 [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd when he asked for water, stood and pissed around his feet[/tab]\r\n[tab]          [ch]Am[/ch]\r\nWhile his tongue swelled up and blackened in the burning desert heat[/tab]\r\n[tab]                                                      [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd someone said we ought to mark the Preacher with a brand[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                           [ch]F[/ch]            [ch]Am[/ch]      [ch]Em[/ch]  [ch]Am[/ch]  [ch]G[/ch]\r\nTo show that he did not belong beside the Rio Grande[/tab]\r\n\r\n[Verse]\r\n[tab]         [ch]Am[/ch]                                              [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nThen the sky began to darken and a breeze whipped up the dust[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                                [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd some of us were frightened, while others swore and cursed[/tab]\r\n[tab]        [ch]Am[/ch]                                 [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd the Preacher said a few words with his final dying breath[/tab]\r\n[tab]         [ch]Am[/ch]\r\nAbout forgiving us for what we had done to bring about his death[/tab]\r\n[tab]                                                   [ch]Em[/ch]\r\nAnd as the night began to fall we covered him with sand[/tab]\r\n[tab]    [ch]Am[/ch]                      [ch]F[/ch]\r\nAnd left his weary bones to bleach[/tab]","plain_text":"[Intro]\nAm  Em  Am  G\n\n[Verse]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Verse]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Verse]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Verse]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Verse]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Verse]","chords":["Am","Em","G","F"],"chord_diagrams":{"Am":{"barres":[],"baseFret":1,"fingers":[0,0,2,3,1,0],"frets":[-1,0,2,2,1,0]},"Em":{"barres":[],"baseFret":1,"fingers":[0,2,3,0,0,0],"frets":[0,2,2,0,0,0]},"F":{"barres":[1],"baseFret":1,"fingers":[1,3,4,2,1,1],"frets":[1,3,3,2,1,1]},"G":{"barres":[],"baseFret":1,"fingers":[2,1,0,0,0,3],"frets":[3,2,0,0,0,3]}}}