Steve Earle – Dont Take Your Guns To Town (Guitar)

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Chords

[Intro] D [Verse 1]
D                                 A               D
Young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm,

                                      A               D
A good boy filled with wanderlust, He really meant no harm.

   G
He changed his clothes and shined his boots and combed his dark hair down.

        D
And his mother cried as he walked away,
[Chorus]
      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town, son.

G                  D
Leave your guns at home, Bill.

      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town.
[Verse 2]
   D                                         A             D
He laughed and kissed his mom and said, your Billy Joe's a man.

                                      A       D
I can shoot as quick and straight as  anybody can

  G
I wouldn't shoot without a cause, I'd gun nobody down.

        D
But she cried again as he rode away,
[Chorus]
      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town, son.

G                  D
Leave your guns at home, Bill.

      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town.
[Interlude] D G D C D [Verse 3]
   D                              A                D
He sang a song as on he rode, his guns hung at his hips.

                              A              D
He rode into a cattle town, a smile upon his lips.

   G
He stopped and walked into a bar and laid his money down.

        D
But his mother's words echoed again:
[Chorus]
      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town, son.

G                  D
Leave your guns at home, Bill.

      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town.
[Interlude] D A D D A D G D G D G D G D [Verse 4]
   D                                     A                D
He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand,

                                     A            D
and tried to tell himself at last he had become a man.

  G
A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down.

       D
And he heard again his mother's words:
[Chorus]
      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town, son.

G                  D
Leave your guns at home, Bill.

      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town.
[Verse 5]
    D                                 A              D
And in his rage the Billy Joe reached for his gun to Draw

                                          A            D
but the stranger drew his gun and fired before he even saw.

   G
As Billy Joe fell to the floor the crowd all gathered 'round

    D
and wondered at his final words:
[Chorus]
      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town, son.

G                  D
Leave your guns at home, Bill.

      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town.
[Interlude] D G D C D [Verse 5]
D                                        A                 D
Hundred and twenty years have passed and nothin's really changed

                                    A               D
A young man on the city streets, he has to make his name

     G
He's still too young to know a gun can't make a boy a man

        D
And his mama cries as he walks out
[Chorus]
      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town, son.

G                  D
Leave your guns at home, Bill.

      G                 D
Don't take your guns to town.