These Old Bones

          D                   
These old bones will tell your 
                  A              
story, these old bones will never 
  D
lie
These old bones will tell you surely
                G             D
 what you can't see with your eye
These old bones, I shake and rattle,
           A                 D
 these old bones, I toss and roll
And it's all in where they scatter, 
          G        A      D
tells you what the future holds

        D                       
Oh, she lived up on the mountain 
        A                D
eleven miles or so from town
With a one-eyed cat named Wink, a 
      G                    D
billy goat and a blue tick hound
Her graying hair was braided and 
A                  D
wrapped around her head
And her dress was long and faded, 
        G      A     D
and her home a rusty shed

     D                          
In a little pouch of burlap tied 
        A        D
with a piece of twine
There were bones all shapes and 
                G                  
sizes, gathered through the course 
   D
of time
She'd throw them out before you, she
 A                    D
 swore that she could see
The present, past and future, she 
      G          A      D
could ready your desti- ny

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Every- body knew about her, came to
 A                 D
 get their fortune read
Concerning health and wealth and 
              G                D
power, who to love and when to wed
Well, I just like helpin' people, 
         A                 D
I'm just glad that I could help
Why, I know everybody's secrets, but
   G       A      D
 I keep it to my- self

[Chorus]

          D                   
These old bones will tell your 
                  A              
story, these old bones will never 
  D
lie
These old bones will tell you surely
                G             D
 what you can't see with your eye
Continues after the ad
These old bones, I shake and rattle,
           A/E      A        D
 these old bones, I toss and roll
And it's all in where they scatter, 
          G        A      D
tells you what the future holds

     D                             
Some called her witchy woman, some 
A                D
said she was in- sane
Some said she was a prophet, still 
G         D
everybody came
Just because a body's different, 
      A                   D
well, that don't make 'em mad
Well, they've crucified a many for 
    G       A             D
the special gifts they've had

      D                            
I had often heard about her, 
     A                D
dreamed a- bout her now and then
For I, too, was clairvoyant, came a-
 G               D
 bout when I was ten
I was fascinated with her, and the 
A                   D
things I'd heard a- bout
And I knew some day I'd meet her, 
        G   A          D
and one day it came a- bout

        D                  
Well, I know'd that you 'uz 
                   A           
a'comin', I could feel it in my 
  D
bones
These old bones have also told me 
       G                 D
that I won't be here for long
Did you know that you 'uz adopted, 
        A                   D
did you know you once't was mine?
But the county took you from me, 
     G        A        D
said I wasn't right in mind

           D                       
But I just know'd I had to see you 
            A                 D
'fore these bones was laid to rest
So I conjured up a message, it 
G                D
must'a worked, I guess
                                A  
This gift runs in the family, I 
           D
know you also know
And I passed this gift on to you, 
          G      A                
these old bones, they're just for 
D
show

[Chorus]

          D                   
These old bones will tell your 
                  A              
story, these old bones will never 
  D
lie
These old bones will tell you surely
        G                    D
 how to live and when you'll die
These old bones I shake and rattle, 
          A                D
these old bones I toss and roll
And it's all in where they scatter 
          G        A      D
tells you what the future holds

           D                       
I held her hand while she was dyin'
     A                D
 and with the funeral through
I headed on back up the mountain for
 G               D
 Billy, Wink and Blue
And that little pouch of burlap with
       A                 D
 those bones so worn and old
She give me somethin' special, now 
G     A      D
every time I throw

[Chorus]

          D                   
These old bones will tell your 
                  A              
story, these old bones will never 
  D
lie
These old bones will tell you surely
                G             D
 what you can't see with your eye
These old bones I shake and rattle, 
          A/E     A        D
these old bones I toss and roll
And it's all in how they scatter, 
          G        A      D
tells you what the future holds

(Ending chorus)
          D                A      
These old bones, these old bones, 
D                G     A   D
these old bones, these old bones
                           A      
These old bones, these old bones, 
D                G         D
these old bones, these old bones
          D                A      
These old bones, these old bones, 
D                G     A   D
these old bones, these old bones
                           A      
These old bones, these old bones, 
D                G         D
these old bones, these old bones
          D                A      
These old bones, these old bones, 
D                G     A   D
these old bones, these old bones ---