G
Jacob was a dirt poor farm boy
                                                      C
raised at the fork in the road, in a clapboard house

and Rachel was a land baron's daughter

born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Her daddy said he wouldn't stand
                                                C
for Rachel to waste her life with a common man
A
He tried hard to keep them apart
            C                       D
but you can't draw lines, in a young girl's heart

[Chorus]
C
So late one night by the harvest moon

Jacob climbed a ladder up to Rachel's room
G
He knew his place, it was right beside her
C
step by step, up to her world

head over heels for his brown-eyed girl
G
and gettin' caught didn't seem to matter
         A          G             D              G
'cause heaven was waitin' at the top of Jacob's ladder.

[Verse] (Key change to A)
    A
It'll be five years September

since her daddy found a ladder
                          D
and a note on her window sill

He swore he'd never forgive them
                                                     A
but nothin' melts a heart like a grandchild will

Now she climbs up on his knee
                                                D
says "Grampa tell the story; the one about me"
Bm
He thinks back and his eyes shine
D                      E
says listen child, once upon a time...

[Chorus]
D
Late one night by the harvest moon

your daddy climbed a ladder to your momma's room
A
He knew his place, it was right beside her
D
Step by step, up to her world

head over heels for my little girl
A
and here you are, that's all that matters
           Bm             E
'cause heaven was waitin' at the top of Jacob's ladder

A E/G#  F#

E         Bm                   E                     A
Oh, and an angel was waitin' at the top of Jacob's Ladder