Intro: Em  |     |    |    | D  |    |    |    | 
 
Em 
Down the drainpipe cross the yard and through the fence 
  D                            Em 
I risked a whoopin' every time I went 
       C 
Cause white boys weren't allowed 
        G 
On the coloured side of  town 
           Am 
But I was proud to call 
                       B7 
That old black man my friend 
 
 
He had a pillow on the bed he used  to pray on 
And a beat up old guitar he let me play on 
I knew where my fingers went 
>From his greasy fingerprints 
Yeah he was passing on 
What was handed down to him 
 
Chorus: 
        C                                     G 
And it soaked up all the blood and sweat and teardrops 
        D                                 Em 
and the beers he missed in smokey little bars 
     C                               G 
And sometimes that old man he comes alive in my hands 
            Am                           B7 
I feel the beating of his sad old broken heart 
C                                    D 
Just like there's a ghost in this guitar 
A 
A ghost in this guitar 
 
 
Well the night before he died he made me take it 
He said "You play it know 'cause I gotta go 
And I can feel him in my fingers when I play it 
'Cause sometimes I'm in control 
And sometimes I just sit back 
And let him go 
Sit back and let him go 
 
Chorus