Bob Dylan – Ballad Of Donald White (Guitar)

C                 F
My name is Donald White, you see

  G7               C
I stand before you all

      C               F    C
I was judged by you a murderer

                            G7
And the hangman’s knot must fall

C                   F       C
I will die upon the gallows pole

                         F
When the moon is shining clear

    C            F
And these are my final words

     G7            C
That you will ever hear

     C           F
If I had some education

        G7          C
To give me a decent start

  C                 F      C
I might have been a doctor or

  C             G7
A master in the arts

      C                F    C
But I used my hands for stealing

                F
When I was very young

         C                 F
And they locked me down in jailhouse cells

       G7            C
That’s how my life begun

        C               F
Oh, the inmates and the prisoners

  G7                 C
I found they were my kind

       C       F        C
It was there inside the bars

  C                 G7
I found my peace of mind

        C                   F   C
But the jails they were too crowded

     C           F
Institutions overflowed

        C                  F
So they turned me loose to walk upon

       G7              C
Life’s hurried tangled road

            C             F
And there’s danger on the ocean

          G7                   C
Where the salt sea waves split high

            C             F     C
And there’s danger on the battlefield

          C                 G7
Where the shells of bullets fly

            C              F    C
And there’s danger in this open world

      C               F
Where men fight to be free

        C               F
And for me the greatest danger

    G7      C
Was in society

     C             F
So I asked them to send me back

       G7          C
To the institution home

         C                  F   C
But they said they were too crowded

    C              G7
For me they had no room

  C              F         C
I got down on my knees and begged

     C              F
“Oh, please put me away”

         C                F
But they would not listen to my plea

   G7              C
Or nothing I would say

    C            F
And so it was on Christmas Eve

       G7        C
In the year of ’59

       C               F        C
It was on that night I killed a man

  C              G7
I did not try to hide

    C             F   C
The jury found me guilty

    C           F
And I won’t disagree

      C                  F
For I knew that it would happen

     G7          C
If I wasn’t put away

        C                F
But I’m glad I’ve had no parents

   G7             C
To care for me or cry

    C             F     C
For now they will never know

    C                     G7
The horrible death that I die

        C              F      C
And I’m also glad I’ve had no friends

   C            F
To see me in disgrace

            C              F
For they’ll never see that hangman’s hood

G7             C
Wrap around my face

    C             F
Farewell unto the old north woods

   G7              C
Of which I used to roam

    C             F       C
Farewell unto the crowded bars

   C                G7
Of which’ve been my home

    C               F  C
Farewell to all you people

    C                  F
Who think the worst of me

  C                      F
I guess you’ll feel much better when

    G7              C
I’m on that hanging tree

            C             F
But there’s just one more question

  G7                C
Before they kill me dead

    C         F        C
I’m wondering just how much

   C            G7
To you I really said

   C               F         C
Concerning all the boys that walk

  C              F
A road just like me

         C          F
Are they enemies or victims

   G7        C
Of your society?