Turnpike Troubadours – On The Red River (Guitar)

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Chords

As recorded by Turnpike Troubadours (From the 2025 Album THE PRICE OF ADMISSION) Evan Felker plays this song with a capo at 2nd fret. To do so transpose -2 steps. [Intro] D [Verse 1]
D                               Bm
There's a mid-July whitetail in velvet

D                     Em  G
Red as your old Chevrolet

    D        A             G              D
And I was sixteen when you wrecked it and we

     Em                    Bm  A
Were lucky we both walked away

              D                         Bm
And you could day work and scrape out a living

    D                           Em G
The work for which you had been born

         D            A            G      D
You were quick with a laugh and forgiving

    Em                        Bm   A
And tied hard and fast to the horn

       D                        Bm
We had Kelpies and good Quarter Horses

       D                            Em   G
We had wheat pasture yearlings tied down

           D            A          G       D
We learned pain was the price of admission

           Em                        Bm   A
And you're never done paying it down
[Chorus]
     Bm         A          G         D
Back on the red river, not hard to remember

          Bm          A         G
When your daddy would never get old

D              A          D          G
When I saw the world from up on your shoulders

    Bm         A              G            D
I remember the view, when you live like we do

Bm            A              Em           Bm   A
Death doesn't leave with the best part of you
[Verse 2]
   D                                Bm
On days off, we'd help out our neighbors

       D                         Em   G
And we smiled and we sweated for free

      D            A               G     D
You'd earned every drink with your labor

        Em                            Bm  A
And I'd sleep on your front seat 'til 3

          D                          Bm
And you'd call it a cure for a snake bite

  D                      Em       G
I reached for a fifth of Old Crow

     D        A               G          D
Some medicine should get your head right

         Em                             Bm   A
When the symptoms were starting to show
[Chorus]
     Bm         A          G         D
Back on the red river, not hard to remember

          Bm          A         G
When your daddy would never get old

D              A          D          G
When I saw the world from up on your shoulders

    Bm         A              G            D
I remember the view, when you live like we do

Bm            A              Em           Bm   A
Death doesn't leave with the best part of you
[Interlude] Bm A G D Bm A G D A D G Bm A [Verse 3]
              D                         Bm
And there are pickups lined up down the driveway

       D                        Em  G
Have I really been gone for two years?

    D        A          G        D
I'd be on my third on a good day

  Em                          Bm  A
I find my last bottle of beer

        D                            Bm
I guess Saturday started without you

  D                     Em   G
I knew before I got the call

    D        A             G      D
The red July bucks were in velvet

     Em                      Bm    A
I'll tell you about 'em this fall
[Chorus]
     Bm         A          G         D
Back on the red river, not hard to remember

          Bm          A         G
When your daddy would never get old

      D           A          D          G
Got a look at the world from up on your shoulders

    Bm         A              G            D
I remember the view, when you live like we do

Bm            A              Em           Bm
Death doesn't leave with the best part of you
[Outro]
      Bm          A          D          G     D G
Got a look at the world from up on your shoulders

    Bm         A              G            D
I remember the view, when you live like we do

Bm            A              Em           Bm
Death doesn't leave with the best part of you