F
I'm the man their gonna hang for killing Billie Joe

But there's a whole lot more to the story than they know

Listen to my side of it and I think that you will see

The reason that I killed the boy that made a fool of me

[Intro]

F C


[Verse]

F
There was a girl named Mary Anne
Bb                  C                F  C
And Mary Anne meant all the world to me
F
We planned to get married
Bb                  C              F
We set the date the wedding was to be


[Chorus]

Bb                     C
But I walked up to her house one night
    Bb               C                F
And out there on the front porch they sat
           Bb               C             F   C
And then I swore he'd never get away with that


[Verse 2]

F                         Bb                 C              F    C
Billie Joe took Mary Anne and went up to the dance hall one night
F                                    Bb                C              F
They didn't know that I was standing back there in the shadows out of sight


[Chorus 2]

     Bb            C             Bb           C                 F
They sat down at a table and she smiled as he gave her hand the pat
           Bb             C               F     F7
And then I swore he'd never get away with that


[Bridge]

  Bb            Eb               F           Bb
I swore he'd never get away with breaking my heart
C                     G                          C
I knew that there was just one way to keep them apart


[Verse 3]

F                         Bb
Everybody says his mother begged him
       C                F    C
Not to take his guns to town
F
He should have listened to her
    Bb              C               F
She knew that I was gonna shoot him down


[Chorus 3]

Bb              C             Bb            C                F
I'll be hung tomorrow just because I had to kill that little rat
      Bb             C               F
But I swore he'd never get away with that
            Bb        C             F   Bb  F
And Billie Joe didn't get away with that