Slim Dusty – The Ballad Of Big Bill Smith (Guitar)

N.C.                          G
The Ballad of Big Bill Smith

G                                                        D
Big Bill Smith was rough and tough as a mining man could be

       C                                         G             D
And he said "I'll blaze a trail right down those ranges to the sea"

    C                                     G                Em
And Big Bill Smith he did just that, and he found the Barron River

          D                Am                D                G
Where the myall blacks and crocodiles, would set your bones a-shiver

        G                                                      D
Then he said "I’ve dug too long for gold I'll find it the easy way"

       C                                    G               D
And he built a pub there in the scrub where Smithfield is today

    C                                           G                  Em
The Thornborough miners dug their gold, and the packers brought it down

         D                        Am                   D                   G
And they quenched their thirst in Big Bill's bar right there in Big Bill’s town

          G                                                      D
Well, the traders came and built a town, and they named it after Bill

         C                                 G              D
Then the gamblers and the women came their pockets for to fill

    C                                          G               Em
The gold came down and Smithfield boomed and a roaring town it was

         D              Am                     D                 G
And it's even said that Big Bill's horse, with golden shoes were shod

    G                                                    D
Big Bill was king of Smithfield town and Palmer Kate was queen

        C                                G                 D
And the only god they knew came down the range in a golden stream

    C                                   G                Em
The wickedest town in Australia was its dubious claim to fame

        D                     Am                         D                G
And the things they did for a bag of gold, would put the devil himself to shame

        G                                                        D
And the myall blacks looked on with awe as the white men died in fights

      C                               G             D
For a bag of gold or the favours of a woman for the night

    C                               G                 Em
And Big Bill met his death that way out in that muddy street

   D                 Am                D                  G
He traded lead for a bag of gold, then Big Bill Smith was beat

         G                                                       D
Oh, they buried Bill there in the scrub and they drank his hotel dry

          C                                 G                 D
T'was the grandest wake they'd ever had the day that Big Bill died

     C                                          G               Em
Yes, Big Bill died, and his town did too in the face of old man flood

        D               Am                D                 G
For the Barron River it took the lot, and buried it deep in mud

            G                                                           D
Oh, there's nought to see of the old town now for they never rebuilt it there

         C                                  G                D
But I'll bet the ghost of Big Bill Smith is still around somewhere

           C                                           G                   Em
And if you see that sign on a northern road and you're thinking about this tale

      D                   Am                      D                  G
Well, spare a thought for Big Bill Smith, and the men who blazed the trail