capo 2nd fret 
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ 
INTRO  
G5  E5  D5  C5 
 
G5       
No doubt the prayers of my mother 
      E5                      D5 
Have taken me aways down the line, 
     C5                        G5 
And I'd swear the life of my sister, 
                                            D5 
Well she's brighter than the sun when she shines. 
    G5             
And I have been baptised in water, 
E5                       D5 
I have been baptised in fire 
          C5                            G5 
And I've knelt with both hands on the altar 
     D5         C5            G5 
And I've even sang in the choir. 
               E5                     C5            G5 
There've been forks in the road when I've had to choose... 
   D5                         C5           D5          G5 
I pray He'll forgive me for singin' the backslider blues. 
 

             C5                       G5 
- Yeah the backslider blues ain't a hard song to sing. 
     E5               C5              G5          D5 
You know right from wrong, you just don't do a thing. 
 C5                            G5         
Stand there alone, feelin' battered and bruised, 
 E5           D5         C5 
Singin' the backslider blues. - 
 

G5  E5  D5  G5 
 
           G5            
From the stained glass light of the chapel, 
        E5              D5 
To the neon haze of the bar. 
          C5             G5 
From the wine of holy communion,  
                                  D5 
To the liqour that's left me the scars. 
          G5                
From the Bible that sets on my dresser,  
         E5                            D5 
To the clothes strung all 'cross the floor. 
            C5                                G5 
From the prayers from my friends when they need me, 
         D5              C5           G5 
To the times that I've ran out the door. 
      E5                        C5          G5 
Been taken by surprise by some women and rouge, 
       D5                          C5           D5         G5 
And I pray He'll forgive me for singin' the backslider blues. 
 

D5   G5   E5   C5   G5   D5   C5   G5   E5   D5   C5 
 
    G5        
And I hope that we can all make it 
        E5                        D5 
To the place where true freedom rings 
       C5                            G5 
And I pray that they have us some guitars 
                                         D5 
So we can walk through the red buds and sing. 
        G5        
Never know when you're out on life's highway, 
 E5                       D5 
Gabriel might pull up to you. 
            C5                         G5 
He'll say "Child, climb in and ride shotgun 
           D5             C5          G5 
And we'll see what this big rig can do". 
             E5                       C5              G5 
There'll be nothin' more to say and nothin' left to lose. 
 D5                        C5             D5         G5 
He'll have forgotten when we sang the backslider blues. 
 

             C5                       G5 
- Yeah the backslider blues ain't a hard song to sing. 
     E5               C5              G5          D5 
You know right from wrong, you just don't do a thing. 
 C5                            G5         
Stand there alone, feelin' battered and bruised, 
 E5           D5         C5                G5            D5        G5 
Singin' the backslider blues. I'm just singin' the backslider blues. 
G5  E5  D5  G5