(intro)

D--7---7---7--------------7---7--7-(b9)
A--7h(b9)--(b9)7--(b9)7---7-(b9)--7h(b9)--(b9)---  F#m  E
E---------------7h(b9)----(b9)-----------

             A               Bm
I worked the land to raise a family
            G            A
'Till I was weary to the bone
F#m                   G
But hard labour never bothered me
           D          A
Lord, it's all I ever known

         A          Bm
Too many seasons of calamity
             G               A
And too much interest on the loan
F#m                      G
It's half the size as it used to be
    D       A       E          E4 E
And half of that is stone

E                       A
The crops ain't worth a-seeding
       D    A        E         E4 E
Timber only gets you fire
E                    A
The live-stock I'm a-feeding
      D      A         E   
I can hardly keep 'em alive
        F#m       E      D
I gotta do what I can to survive

(chorus)

           F#m            D
I know the law wont be forgiving
    A                       E
But that'll be the choice I made
          Bm         G
I used to farm for a living
    D                      A
But now I'm in the growing trade

(intro riff)

           A             Bm
The summer beauty of the cotton fields
           G                  A
Was like a view from heaven's door
F#m                    G
My grandaddy said that harvest time
             D                 A
Was what the good lord made us for

             A                  Bm
I guess he'd wonder where's the dignity
     G                 A
In a crop you raise to burn
F#m                 G
But this land is my legacy
      D       A       E       E4  E
I got nowhere else to turn

E             A
Shotgun on my shoulder
        D         A      E    E4  E
Where a tote sack oughta be
E                       A
The theives are getting bolder
        D           A        E
And the feds may be watching me
        F#m       E       D
I gotta quit this eventually

(chorus)

           F#m            D
I know the law wont be forgiving
    A                       E
But that'll be the choice I made
          Bm         G
I used to farm for a living
    D                      A       A4  A
But now I'm in the growing trade

    E              A
Helicopters in the distance
        D      A     E
Getting closer every day
E                           A
They're gonna meet some resistance
         D         A      E
Ain't no price too big to pay
E                 A
It won't make any difference,
          D       A     E
When they take it all away,
E                      A
Between the cot in the jailhouse
      D       A        E
And a bed beneath the clay
                F#m        E          D
I guess there's nothing to do now but pray

(chorus)