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

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

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

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

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