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