I am weak but Thou are strong
Jesus keep me from all wrong
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, blessed Lord, close to Thee

Chorus:
Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it Jesus is my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, blessed Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toils and snares
If I falter, Lord, who cares
None but Thee my burden bares
None but Thee, blessed Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o'er
Time for me will be no more
Guide me to that peaceful shore
Let me walk, blessed Lord, close to Thee.

Verse and Chorus:

I	I	V	V
V	V	I	I
I	I7	V	V
I	V	I	V

 

—Noel and Padraig Duggan

Each night brings back my dreams of you
I cried and cry I feel so blue
You broke my heart so why pretend
The sign ahead reads journey's end

Chorus:
River's rolling along skies are turning gray
Clouds are moving in I've lost my way
I tried to smile but why pretend
The sign ahead reads journey's end

Remember the day when we first met
I loved you then, I love you yet
Nights when you kneel down in prayer
If God would will I'd be right there

Sitting all alone beneath the stars
I'm wondering where on earth you are
Thinking of the things that might have been
But the sign ahead reads journey's end

Verse:

I	IV	I	V
I	IV	I-V	I

Chorus:

IV	I	I	V
I	IV	I-V	I

 

John Henry, when he was a baby
Settin' on his mammy's knee
Picked up an hammer in his little right hand
Said, "Hammer be the death of me, me, me
Hammer be the death of me"

Some say he's born in Texas
Some say he's born up in Maine
I just say he was a Louisiana man
Leader of a steel-driving chain gang
Leader on a steel-driving gang

Well, the Captain said to John Henry
I'm gonna bring my steam drill around
Gonna bring my steam drill out on the job
Gonna whup that steel on down, down, down
Whup that steel on down

John Henry said to the Captain
You can bring your steam drill around
You can bring your steam drill out on the job
I'll beat your steam drill down, down, down
Beat your steam drill down

John Henry said to his Shaker
Shaker, you had better pray
If you miss your six feet of steel
I'll be your buryin' day, day, day
I'll be your buryin' day

Now, the Shaker said to John Henry
Man ain't nothing but a man
But before I'd let that steam drill beat me down
I'd die with an hammer in my hand, hand, hand
I'd die with an hammer in my hand

John Henry had a little woman
Her name was Polly Anne
John Henry took sick and was laid up in bed
While Polly handled steel like a man, man, man
Polly handled steel like a man

They took John Henry to the graveyard
Laid him down in the sand
Every locomotive comin' a-rolling by
Hollered, there lies a steel-drivin' man, man, man
There lies a steel-drivin' man

There lies a steel-drivin' man, man, man
There lies a steel-drivin' man

Verse:

I	I	I	V
I	I	I	I

 

—The Carter Family

John Hardy was a desperate little man
He carried two guns every day
He shot down a man on that West Virginia line
You ought a seen John Hardy getting away
You ought to seen John Hardy getting away

John Hardy stood in that old barroom
So drunk that he could not see
And a man walked up and took him by the arm
He said Johnny, come and go along with me Poor boy
Johnny, come and walk along with me

John Hardy stood in his old jail cell
The tears running down from his eyes
He said I've been the death of many a poor boy
But my six—shooters never told a lie
No, my six—shooters never told a lie

The first one to visit John Hardy in his cell
Was a little girl dressed in blue
She came down to that old jail cell
She said Johnny, I've been true to you God knows
Johnny, I've been true to you

The next one to Visit John Hardy in his cell
Was a little girl dressed in red
She come down to that old jail cell
She said, Johnny, I had rather see you dead
Well, Johnny, I had rather see you dead

I've been to the East and I've been to the West
I've traveled this wide world around
I've been to that river and I've been baptized
So take me to my burying ground
So take me to my burying ground

John Hardy was a desperate little man
He carried two guns every day
He shot down a man on the West Virginia line
You ought to seen old John Hardy getting away
You ought to seen old John Hardy getting away

Verse:

IV	I	IV	I
IV	I	V	V

 

—Violent Femmes

Oh my, oh my, oh my, what if it was true?
And oh my, oh my, oh my, tell me is it true
Did He, did He, did He die upon that cross?
And did He, did He, did He come back across?

Chorus:
Jesus walking on the water
Sweet Jesus walking in the sky
Sinking sand He took my hand
He raised me up and he brought me up
I can hold my, my, my head high

Will I, will I, will I be true to my birth?
And will I, will I, will I give what I'm worth?
Oh yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, I come when you call
And yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, Jesus, my all—in—all

Oh my, oh my, oh my, what if it was true?
And oh my, oh my, oh my, tell me is it true
Did He, did He, did He die upon that cross?
And did He, did He, did He come back across?

Verse:

I	I	IV	I
I	I	V	V
I	I	IV	I
I	I	V	I

Chorus:

IV	IV	I	I
VIm	VIm	IV	V

 

—Mississippi Fred McDowell

Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want
Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want
Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want
Wooo… call him up and tell him what you want

Yeah, he will come in a hurry, just tell him what you want
I said he will come in a hurry, just tell him what you want
Oh he will come in a hurry, just tell him what you want
Oh, call him up and tell him what you want

Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want
Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want
Jesus is on the main line, just tell him what you want
Oh, call him up and tell him what you want

If you're sick and you can't get well, just tell him what you want
Wooo, if you're sick and you can't get well, just tell him what you want
Yeah, if you're sick and you can't get well, tell him what you want
Wooo, call him up and tell him what you want

Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want
Yeah, Jesus is on the main line, just tell him what you want
Jesus is on the main line, just tell him what you want
Ooh, call him up and tell him what you want

Verse:

I	I	I	I
IV	IV	IV	I
I	I	I	I
V	V	I	I

 

Jesse James was a lad
That killed many a man
He robbed the Glendale train
He stole from the rich
And he gave to the poor
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain

Well it was Robert Ford
That dirty little coward
I wonder now how he feels
For he ate of Jesse's bread
And he slept in Jesse's bed
And he laid poor Jesse in his grave

Chorus:
Well Jesse had a wife
To mourn for his life
Three children
Now they were brave
Well that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
And he laid poor Jesse in his grave

Well now Jesse was a man
A friend to the poor
He'd never rob a mother or a child
There never was a man with
the law in his hand
That could take Jesse James when alive

It was on a Saturday night
Yeah the moon was
shinin' bright
They robbed
the Glendale train
And the people they did say
o'er many miles away
It was those outlaws yeah Frank
and Jesse James

Now the people held
their breath
When they heard of
Jesse's death
They wondered how
he'd ever come to fall
Robert Ford it was a fact
He shot Jesse in the back
While Jesse hung a picture
on a wall

Now Jesse went to rest with
his hand on his breast
The devil upon his knee
he was born one day in
the County Clay
And he came from
a solitary race

Verse:

I	I	IV	I
I	I	V	V
I	I	IV	I
I	V	I	I

Chorus:

IV	IV	I	I
I	I	V	V
I	I	IV	IV
I	V	I	I

 

—Hank Williams

Goodbye Joe, you gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go-pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Chorus:
Jambalaya, crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
For tonight, I'm-a gonna see my ma cher a mi-o
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Thibodaux, Fontaineaux, the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style and go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Settle down far from town, get me a pirogue
And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou
Swap my mon to buy Yvonne what she need-o
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Verse and Chorus:

|: I	I	V	V
V	V	I	I :|

 

(Drunkard's Hiccups)
I've played cards in England, I've gambled in Spain
Goin back to Carolina (Rhode Island), gonna play my last game

Chorus:
Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds, I've known you from old
You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold

Gonna eat when I'm hungry, gonna drink when I'm dry
Get to feelin much better, gonna sprout wings and fly
Gonna take down my fiddle, gonna rosin up the bow
Gonna make myself welcome, wherever I go

Gonna drink, gonna gamble, all my money is my own
Them that don't like me, can leave me alone
Gonna beat on the counter, gonna make the glass ring
More brandy, more brandy, more brandy to bring

If the river was whiskey, and I was a duck
I'd dive to the bottom, and never come up
But the river ain't whiskey, and I ain't no duck
I'll play these drunkard's hiccups, and trust to my luck

¾

Verse:

I	I	I	I
I	I	V	I

Chorus:

I	IV	I	I
I	IV	V	I

 

Extra verses:

My shoes are all tore up, my toes are stickin' out
Gonna get some corn whiskey, I'm going up the spout.

I get up in the morning, I stagger and reel.
Goddamn you corn whiskey, How badly I feel.

It's a whiskey you villain you've been my downfall
You've kicked me you've cuffed me but I loves you for all

It's a whiskey rye whiskey rye whiskey I cry
If I don't get rye whiskey well I think I will die

Beefsteak when I'm hungry red liquor when I'm dry
Greenbacks when I'm hard up and religion when I die

I'll a go to yonder holler and I'll build me a still
I'll give you a gallon for a five dollar bill

Rye whiskey rye whiskey rye whiskey I cry
If a tree don't fall on me I'll live till I die