G

[Verse]
                                 C                G
I stare out every evening at the distant Northern Star
                                  C                G
It leads us ever Northward and it tells us that we are
               F                                 G
Lost below the Yellowstone, in a land unknown to me
                           C                                 G
Ten thousand miles from my loved ones and my home across the sea

[Verse]
                                     C               G
We travel through an empty land, the benches are all strewn
                                                   C             G
With Bison bones that shine ghost white ‘neath the rising of the moon
                          F                          G
And the red wolf howls an answer as I try to sing on guard
                    C                             G
Indentured to these Texans, in a land so wild and hard

[Verse]
                                       C                 G
When I hired on to Bill Ducharm In the heat of the Texas sun
                                      C                G
I was unaware of his darker side, his quickness with a gun
                    F                                      G
But I made a solemn promise, oh, I’d ride with him through hell
                         C                                           G
Deliver the herds to the ends of the earth or the mouth of the Musselshell

[Verse]
                                          C                  G
Well, I just turned about sixteen when we hit that first cow-town
                                              C             G
I drank my first strong liquor, ohhh, and the women spun me round
                       F                                 G
But of all the barroom angels, with their soft forbidden charms
                         C                             G
I was stuck on blue-eyed Annie, who belonged to Bill Ducharm

[Chorus]
        F            C
And the boy became a man
     F                D
That night in Annie’s arms
    F               C
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
  D              D7
Beware of Bill Ducharm

[Verse]
   G                            C                    G
We left that Texas cow-town, we pointed the big herd north
                                                   C                G
But the first night when the moon was down, I rode back to old Fort Worth
                         F                                     G
They were closing up the barroom, oh, they were rolling up the floor
                   C                             G
My heart was in my mouth as I knocked on Annie’s door

[Chorus]
        F            C
And the boy became a man
     F                D
That night in Annie’s arms
    F               C
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
  D              D7
Beware of Bill Ducharm

[Verse]
    G                                    C                   G
Old Bill Ducharm had one bad eye and his face was a devilish red
                                            C                     G
The results of a bygone ferry fire, when he crawled back from the dead
                   F                              G
And every night in dreams, as I rolled in Annie’s arms
                     C                            G
I’d wait to face old Satan in the guise of Bill Ducharm

[Verse]
                                         C                 G
When each night 'cross the campfire, I’d face that one bad eye
                                          C            G
Did he know that I’d betrayed him, had my hour come to die?
                    F                                   G
One promise he made true, ah, we rode with him through hell
                              C                                            G
We delivered the herds to the ends of the earth and the mouth of the Musselshell

[Chorus]
        F            C
And the boy became a man
     F                D
That night in Annie’s arms
    F               C
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
  D              D7
Beware of Bill Ducharm

[Instrumental]
G   C   G   C   G   F   G   C   G

[Verse]
                                        C              G
But now as we near the Yellowstone, the snow begins to fall
                                           C             G
And soon this dreadful enterprise shall be ending for us all
                         F                             G
It’s then I’ll need fast horses, ah, to fly to Annie’s arms
                   C                          G
And stay one jump ahead of the guns of Bill Ducharm

[Chorus]
        F            C
And the boy became a man
     F                D
That night in Annie’s arms
    F               C
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
  D              D7
Beware of Bill Ducharm

[Chorus]
        F            C
Oh, the boy became a man
     F                D
That night in Annie’s arms
    F               C
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
  D              D7
Beware of Bill Ducharm

[Outro]
G         C           G
Ooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
          C           G
Ooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
        F           G
Ohh ohh hmmmmmmmmmm hmmm
C         G
Ooooh ooh oooooh ooh ooh oooooh oooh ooh