Am                        G          Am
       I was sittin' beside the road in Black Jack County.
                            G                E
not knowing that that the Sheriff paid a bounty,
       Am           G               F                 Am
for men like me that didn't have a penny to their name.
                    G                 Am         E            Am
So he locked my leg to 35 pounds of Black Jack County Chains.
                           G              Am
 And all we had to eat was bread and water,
                  G                             E
and each day we built the road a mile and a quarter,
                 Am                   G                 F                     Am
a Black Snake Whip, would cut our back, when some poor Fool complained,
                     G                         Am             E      Am
but we couldn't fight back wearing 35 pounds of Black Jack County Chains.
               G                 Am
One night while the Sheriff was a sleeping,
                G                    E
we all gathered round him slowly creeping,
       Am              G          F                       Am
and Heaven help me to forget that night in the cold cold rain,
                                G      Am      E      Am
when we beat him to death with       35 pounds of Black Jack County Chains.
now the whip marks are all healed and I'm thankful,
there's nothing but the scar around my ankle.
but most of all I'm glad no man will be a slave again,
to a Black Snake Whip, and 35 pounds of Black Jack County Chain.