verse 1
C
Those other years, the dusty years
D
When we drove the big herds through
C
I tried to forget the miles we rode
D
And Spanish Johnny too
verse 2
C D
He'd sit beside a water ditch when all his herd was in
C G D
And he'd never harm a child but sing to his mandolin
C
He sang the old songs, the old ways,
D
and the dealins' of our game
C D
Spanish Johnny seldom spoke, but sang songs of Spain
verse 3
C
And his talk with men was vicious talk
D
When he was drunk on gin
C G D
Ah, but those were golden things he said to his mandolin
GUITAR SOLO
verse 4
C
We had to stand, we had to judge,
D
We had to stop him then
C D
For the hand so gentle to a child had killed so many men
VERSE 5
C D
He died a hard death long ago before the roads came in
C G D
And the night before he swung he sung to his mandolin
C
Well, we carried him out in the mornin' light
D
a man who done no good
C
And we lowered him down in the cold cold clay
D
Stuck in a cross of wood
C
And a letter he wrote to his kinfolk
D
To tell them where he'd been
C
And we shipped it on down to Mexico,
G D C
Along with his mandolin