Intro: D Bm (5x)
D Bm D
Id seen the bloodlands of Antietam
Bm
The shotgun shack in Tupelo
D Am G
But a brick circumference left hollow by Sherman
Em
Crumbling before me how it moans
D Bm
His shape swallows my recollection
D Bm
That phantom silhouette implied
D Am G
Strange fruit rotting from an air morning hotter than hell
Em
Is this the king’s last man Ive spied
D Bm
I stood there beside my companion
D Bm
Scratching a rumor he had heard
D
Do you have a gun?
Am
What? He said, yeah, you mean this one?
G Em
Straight down the barrel was his word
D Bm
And I smelt the fumes he inhaled swiftly
D Bm
Each word was hinged upon his choke
D Am G
Like kudzu creeping up a state tree discretely
Em
Forever bending as it broke
D Bm
And I heard the jangling keys of Graceland
D Bm
Ring from his teeth stained round from coke
D Am G
Drunk and stumbling like a man of distinction
Em
They clamored shaking as he spoke
D Bm
Of droves of pilgrims at his doorway
D Bm
Of Reagan, Carter, Clinton, Gore
D Am
Fortunes offered them, refused routinely
G Em
This aint no damn auction house he swore
D Bm
Black male standing around 6 foot something
D Bm
Ebbs through the waves of small town bias
D Am G
A minute coldly from southern affection
Em
Collides secretly into night
D Bm
Forgive those who trespass against us
D Bm
Began the dead intruders plea
D Am G
Into the very muzzle I’d once bit into
Em
He gives the last words he will speak
D Bm
That broken glass supports forced entry
D Bm
Reminds his lawyer through the phone
D Am
What southern judge do you know, comforting gently
G Em
Who jails white men who defend their home
D Bm
No souls are present for the moment
D Bm
His bombed out brick walls finally fell
D Am
Lying face down in the throes of atonement
G Em
Checked out of the Heartbreak Hotel
D Bm x2 D Am G Em
D A G D A G
It’s the uncast shadow of a southern myth x5