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

[Verse 2]
D                                          G         
People said John was a slacker cause he wouldn't 
           D
fight in their war
D                                              A     
A man wasn't much if he wouldn't fight back in 
              D
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        
And one of the men makin' fun of him was a feller 
      A       D
named a Milton Howard

[Verse 3]
D                                     G              
Milton was down at the Cold Spring a drinkin' from a 
       D
Mason jar
D                                                    
He said John you better get yourself to work you 
                           A
gonna fool around till you get fired
D                                       G         
John blew the dust from his old 44 put two holes in 
            D
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        
Next guy he met was a Steagall boy and the boy had a 
               D
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   
Steagall fell down to his knees to pray and he cried 
                          D
Lord Johnny please don't shoot
G                            D    G            D  
Before he got half way to sayin' amen well old John 
            A          D
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         
Word went out through the County that old John had 
        D
lost his head
D                                                    
The people were running and screaming there were 
                       A
seven of 'em layin' there dead
D                                          G         
Johnny hid out in a farmhouse he had satisfaction in 
     D
his eyes
G                                D      G            
He said I know they're coming to get me boys but they
  D             A       D
 ain't a gonna take me alive

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

[Verse 7]
D                                        G        
They took old John to the jailhouse he entered in a 
          D
guilty plea
D                                                    
The judge said death in the electric chair cause it's
                      A
 murder in the first degree
D                                             G      
John's last meal was a lot of fried chicken cold 
               D
beans and a baby squash
G                              D    G           D    
He ate every bite that they brought him then he 
               A             D
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                                                    
They put old John in the electric chair they shaved 
    A              E
his ankles and his head
E                                                 
The preacher said son you got something to say in a 
                            B
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           
Then Johnny smiled up at the warden and said turn it 
E          B          E
on turn it on turn it on