Beside The Rio Grande

Am  Em  Am  G

[Verse]
   Am                              
It happened rather suddenly that 
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the Preacher came to town
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With stories from the testaments of
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 men of great renown
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With his box of patent medicines, 
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he swore to cure all ills
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From the lameness in the horses, to 
the children's colds and chills
And he had along his Indian wife and
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 a country music band
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Who sang of peace and brotherhood 
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beside the Rio Grande

[Verse]
        Am                       
Now the Preacher quickly gathered 
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sick and poor from miles around
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Who came to him for comfort and to 
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hear his country sound
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But the mayor thought he was 
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trouble when he spoke against the 
law
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And he saw the growing power of the 
crowds that he could draw
And he worried when the Preacher 
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bought himself a plot of land
   Am                       F     
To settle with his family beside 
       Am      Em  Am  G
the Rio Grande

Continúa después del anuncio
[Verse]
      Am                         
The saloon was pretty crowded and 
     Em
the stakes was a-running high
        Am                         
And the girls sang sentimental 
       Em
songs that made us cowboys cry
     Am                            
We began to criticise the Preacher,
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 marrying a squaw
    Am
And how could he associate with 
cripples, drunks and whores
And in a crazy fit the Preacher 
                            Em
scattered chips and winning hands
    Am                           
And condemned it as a den of vice 
   F            Am      Em  Am  G
beside the Rio Grande

[Verse]
        Am                         
Now the boys were drunk and rowdy, 
    Em
and mostly pretty mean
       Am                          
And we dragged him to the sidewalk 
        Em
and we whipped his shoulders clean
   Am                         
We said he was responsible for 
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bringing on the drought
         Am
That had burned off all the spring 
grass and had wiped the young herd 
out
The sheriff would not get involved, 
                      Em
the law could take no hand
    Am                        F
The Preacher had not harmed a soul

[Verse]
   Am                        
We pegged him on the hillside 
           Em
alongside two Apache braves
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Who'd been given picks and shovels 
         Em
and been made to dig their graves
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And when he asked for water, stood 
    Em
and pissed around his feet
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While his tongue swelled up and 
blackened in the burning desert heat
And someone said we ought to mark 
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the Preacher with a brand
    Am                        
To show that he did not belong 
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beside the Rio Grande

[Verse]
         Am                        
Then the sky began to darken and a 
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breeze whipped up the dust
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And some of us were frightened, 
       Em
while others swore and cursed
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And the Preacher said a few words 
          Em
with his final dying breath
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About forgiving us for what we had 
done to bring about his death
And as the night began to fall we 
                 Em
covered him with sand
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And left his weary bones to bleach