Beside The Rio Grande

Am  Em  Am  G

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

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

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

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

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

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