D                                  G                     D
Johnny got up one mornin' he went down to the company store
D                                             A
Got him a big box of bullets to fit into his 44
D                                                     G                   D
The storeman said son are you gonna work you know you owe me too much to stop
G                         D         G         D          A         D
John said I got a little working to do but I ain't goin' by your clock

[Verse 2]
D                                          G                    D
People said John was a slacker cause he wouldn't fight in their war
D                                              A                   D
A man wasn't much if he wouldn't fight back in nineteen forty and four
D
The doctor said John was just too sick to go
         G                          D
But the people said that he was a coward
G                          D      G         D              A       D
And one of the men makin' fun of him was a feller named a Milton Howard

[Verse 3]
D                                     G                     D
Milton was down at the Cold Spring a drinkin' from a Mason jar
D                                                                               A
He said John you better get yourself to work you gonna fool around till you get fired
D                                       G                     D
John blew the dust from his old 44 put two holes in Milton's head
G                                   D              G
When Johnny walked off to get some more shootin' done
          D                 A           D
That old Cold Spring was a runnin' with red

[Verse 4]
D                                           G                       D
Next guy he met was a Steagall boy and the boy had a hammer in his hand
D
John said son you should've built yourself a box
                                        A
'Cause you're aheaded for the Promised Land
D                                                G                             D
Steagall fell down to his knees to pray and he cried Lord Johnny please don't shoot
G                            D    G            D              A          D
Before he got half way to sayin' amen well old John shot him out of his boots


[IN THE DC ORDING IT GOES UP 1/2 A STEP HED  TO D# MAJOR]

[Verse 5]
D                                          G                 D
Word went out through the County that old John had lost his head
D                                                                           A
The people were running and screaming there were seven of 'em layin' there dead
D                                          G              D
Johnny hid out in a farmhouse he had satisfaction in his eyes
G                                D      G              D             A       D
He said I know they're coming to get me boys but they ain't a gonna take me alive

[Verse 6]
D                                                 G                     D
People gathered round that old farmhouse was the relatives of all them dead
D                                                                                     A
Now John said if the sheriff comes through that door I'm gonna fill him plum full of lead
D                                                        G                     D
The sheriff kicked down that old farmhouse door but old John's gun would not shoot
G                           D          G        D                A       D
Johnny just smiled at the sheriff and said the Lord must think a lot of you

[Verse 7]
D                                        G                  D
They took old John to the jailhouse he entered in a guilty plea
D                                                                          A
The judge said death in the electric chair cause it's murder in the first degree
D                                             G                     D
John's last meal was a lot of fried chicken cold beans and a baby squash
G                              D    G           D                   A             D
He ate every bite that they brought him then he smiled and said I thank you all a lot


[IN THE DC ORDING IT GOES UP ANOTHER 1/2 A STEP HED  TO E MAJOR]

[Verse 8]
E                                                        A              E
They put old John in the electric chair they shaved his ankles and his head
E                                                                             B
The preacher said son you got something to say in a minute you're a gonna be dead
E                                           A
John said I ain't no coward and the people know that I won't run
A                             E          A           E          B          E
Then Johnny smiled up at the warden and said turn it on turn it on turn it on