D
[Verse 1]
GD
Beau John was a king in his own native land,
A
He ruled for a thousand days,
DGD
Till the slave traders came and they locked him in irons,
Bm
And they told him that he'd have to go away.
DAD
They told him that he'd have to go away.
[Verse 2]
GD
Beau John got sick on the long ocean voyage.
A
All around him people died.
DGD
They took his friends and they threw them overboard.
Bm
John hung down his head and he cried.
DAD
John hung down his head and he cried.
[Verse 3]
GD
They sold Beau John down in New Orleans,
A
To a man with a whip in his hand.
DGD
He said farewell to his wife and his child,
Bm
And they took him to a strange new land.
DAD
They took him to a strange new land.
[Verse 4]
GD
Beau John worked hard for 37 years.
A
He worked with a woman by his side.
DGD
And on the morn that his last son was born,
Bm
Beau John laid down and he died.
DAD
Beau John laid down and he died.
[Verse 5]
GD
His son grew up just as big as his dad.
A
They called him Beau John too.
DGD
And for one hundred years Beau John and his sons,
Bm
Did just what the master made them do.
DAD
They did just what the master made them do.
[Verse 6]
GD
Until one day when the cannon fire roared.
A
The master's wife and children did flee.
DGD
Some men in blue coats rode into the yard,
Bm
And they told Beau John that he was free.
DAD
They told Beau John that he was free.
[Verse 7]
GD
When the nightriders came for old Beau John,
A
Little Beau John hid behind a tree.
DGD
He saw what they did and he hit the northern trails,
Bm
Saying, "Maybe up there they'll let me be.
DAD
Maybe up there they'll let me be."
[Verse 7]
GD
But they pushed Beau John and they shoved him around,
A
Till he didn't know where to turn.
DGD
Some folks up in Harlem took him into their home,
Bm
And Beau John started into learn.
DAD
Beau John started into learn.
[Verse 8]
GD
He fought for his country in World War One.
A
His son fought in World War Two.
DGD
And they learned no matter what price they paid,
Bm
There were certain things they weren't allowed to do.
DAD
There were certain things they weren't allowed to do.
[Verse 9]
GD
And then one night on the television screen,
A
He saw that Medgar Evers was dead.
DGD
He took his wife in his arms in the night,
Bm
And these are the words that he said, Beau John,
DAD
These are the words that he said.
[Verse 10]
GD
"Well, they made me a slave and I worked in their fields.
A
They made me fight in their war.
DGD
They kept me down for four hundred years.
Bm
But I ain't gonna take it any more.
DAD
No, I ain't gonna take it any more."
[Verse 11]
GD
His wife got a letter from a Georgia jail,
A
From a town called Albany,
DGD
Saying, "I am proud to be your own Beau John,
Bm
And I ain't coming home till we're free.
DAD
No, I ain't coming home till we're free."