Steve Earle – The Gringos Tale (Guitar)

G                         F    C
Beggin' your pardon there stranger

                                 G
You look like you're new to this town

                               F     C
We're a long way away from the beach here

                           G
You won't see many gringos around

                      F   C 
Well I come from West Colorado

                                     G
And I've wandered this world far and wide

                                 F  C 
I've lived for some years in the shadows

                               G
And my eyes are unused to this light

                                F   C 
If you buy me a strong drink of whiskey

                               G
I will tell you the tale of my life

                              F    C 
It's long and it's sad but it fits me

                                G
And it may bring a tear to your eye

G                             F   C
All the men of my family were solidiers

                                   G
The hard fightin' straight talkin' kind

                           F   C
When my turn came all that was over

                           G
But I'd already made up my mind

                                F  C
I was there when we blew though Grenada

                               G
And I still have to ask myself why

                            F    C
Then we took down that fool Noriega

                                         G
That's where I caught the good colonel's eye

                               F   C 
Well he asked me if I loved my country

                         G
And before I had time to reply

                                 F   C 
He regaled me with tales of past glories

                            G
I believed every one of his lies

G                     F      C
So I left my old life behind me

                                G
Turned my back on my family and friends

                               F     C
And I did everything that they asked me

                              G
And I lost some sleep now and again

                             F    C
And I lived like a thief and assassin

                             G
I smuggled their poisons sometimes

                                    F   C         G
Until I asked the wrong question in passin'

G                               F   C 
And the colonel himself dropped the dime

                          G
So if you're ever in west Colorado

                          F   C 
Tell the folks in Durango goodbye

                                       G
There's a price on my head and I can't go

                               F     C     G 
So I'll just wait around here 'til I die