verse 1
A E A E
Sam Smith was an old man, by the time I first saw him.
A E A B
Wild eyes and a wicked beard, hanging from his chin.
A E A E
I thought I’d seen the devil, as a boy in ‘99.
A E A E
My daddy called him the hermit, from on the borderline.
Chorus
A E A E
He said They’re never gonna take him back again, and march him off to war.
A E A B
Where grey-headed men in long wool coats assign their bloody chores.
A E A E
They can look, but they won’t find, old Sam Smith this time.
A E A E
He’s somewhere North of Canaan Hill along borderline.
verse 2
A E A E
They say Old Sam was a veteran, he rode in the cavalry,
A E A B
Came home on a limping leg sometime in ‘63.
A E A E
Bought a saw and a scattergun at Scagway's general store.
A E A E
He said, “I’m taking to the woods so they won’t find me anymore.”
Chorus
A E A E
No, they’re never gonna take me back again, and march me off to war.
A E A B
Where grey-headed men in long wool coats assign their bloody chores.
A E A E
They can look, but they won't find, old Sam Smith this time.
A E A E
He’s somewhere north of Canaan Hill out on the borderline.
verse 3
A E A E
Now every month on the twenty-fifth, he’d come back to the store.
A E A B
With a broken down old blue tick that would wait outside the door.
A E A E
and He'd yell “Where’s my check from the government, and I want a block of cheese.”
A E A E
Then he'd fold it in a handkerchief he kept up in his sleeve.
Chorus
A E A E
No, they’re never gonna take me back again, and march me off to war.
A E A B
Where grey-headed men in long wool coats assign their bloody chores.
A E A E
They can look, they're never gonna find, old Sam Smith this time.
A E A E
He’s somewhere north of Canaan Hill along the borderline.