Em                             D
That old prairie wind is blowing
      Em                D
I can feel it on my face
       Em                             D
As the land, it rolls out before me
   D                      Em
Everything is in it's place

[Verse 2]
      Em                D
My old home, I'll never go to
       Em                D
My old home, I'll never see
           Em                     D
For I must ride now across these flatlands
 D                           Em
Fleein' the man who murdered me

[Chorus 1]
       Em                D
By the dawn's early light
        Em                   D
Oh now, I must saddle up and ride
       Em                D
By the dawn's early light
        C                D
Oh now, ride through the night
         D             Em
Into the dawn's early light

[Verse 3]
       Em          D
In the state of Indiana
         Em                  D
Lived the man who killed my son
           Em                D
I shot him dead, now I did it indeed
      D                     Em
After ten long years on the run

[Verse 4]
         Em                D
But that man, he was not a loner
        Em                  D
Had two brothers, Lord, you see
               Em           D
They flipped a coin to let fate decide
       D                        Em
Which one would come and murder me

[Verse 5]
          Em                D
Sun comes up, down in the valley
       Em                 D
In the air, sensation over me
       Em                        D
When I see comin' up around the corner
            D                                 Em
Both of the Brothers riding right in front of me

[Verse 6]
            Em                      D
Down in the valley it's two against one
        Em                 D
All men reaching for their guns
            Em                     D
Three shots fired down deep in the valley
        D                    Em
Two men dying in the morning sun

[Chorus 2]
       Em             D
By the dawn's early light
         Em              D
My boy's kneelin' by my side
       Em             D
By the dawn's early light
      C             D
As I lay me down to die
         D            Em
Into the dawn's early light

[Chorus 3]
       Em             D
By the dawn's early light
        Em                    D
Oh now, I must saddle up and ride
       Em                D
By the dawn's early light
        C                D
Oh now, ride through the night
         D            Em
Into the dawn's early light

[Verse 7]
       Em              D
Riding along into the night
       Em              D
Riding along into the night
                      Em               D
Well, it must've been five, six years ago
          D             Em
Under the dawn's early light

[Verse 8]
               Em                              D
Well, I led my darling down the old vermillion way
            Em              D
Well, I led her down to the riverside
                 Em             D
And we said our vows in the moonlight that night
              C              D
And we knew from that day we'd never be apart
                D                          Em
But then it all changed in the blink of an eye