(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)-----------

             A5               B5
I worked the land to raise a family
            G5            A5
'Till I was weary to the bone
F#5                   G5
But hard labour never bothered me
           D5          A5
Lord, it's all I ever known

         A5          B5
Too many seasons of calamity
             G5               A5
And too much interest on the loan
F#5                      G5
It's half the size as it used to be
    D5       A5       E5          E5 E5
And half of that is stone

E5                       A5
The crops ain't worth a-seeding
       D5    A5        E5         E5 E5
Timber only gets you fire
E5                    A5
The live-stock I'm a-feeding
      D5      A5         E5   
I can hardly keep 'em alive
        F#5       E5      D5
I gotta do what I can to survive

(chorus)

           F#5            D5
I know the law wont be forgiving
    A5                       E5
But that'll be the choice I made
          B5         G5
I used to farm for a living
    D5                      A5
But now I'm in the growing trade

(intro riff)

           A5             B5
The summer beauty of the cotton fields
           G5                  A5
Was like a view from heaven's door
F#5                    G5
My grandaddy said that harvest time
             D5                 A5
Was what the good lord made us for

             A5                  B5
I guess he'd wonder where's the dignity
     G5                 A5
In a crop you raise to burn
F#5                 G5
But this land is my legacy
      D5       A5       E5       E5  E5
I got nowhere else to turn

E5             A5
Shotgun on my shoulder
        D5         A5      E5    E5  E5
Where a tote sack oughta be
E5                       A5
The theives are getting bolder
        D5           A5        E5
And the feds may be watching me
        F#5       E5       D5
I gotta quit this eventually

(chorus)

           F#5            D5
I know the law wont be forgiving
    A5                       E5
But that'll be the choice I made
          B5         G5
I used to farm for a living
    D5                      A5       A5  A5
But now I'm in the growing trade

    E5              A5
Helicopters in the distance
        D5      A5     E5
Getting closer every day
E5                           A5
They're gonna meet some resistance
         D5         A5      E5
Ain't no price too big to pay
E5                 A5
It won't make any difference,
          D5       A5     E5
When they take it all away,
E5                      A5
Between the cot in the jailhouse
      D5       A5        E5
And a bed beneath the clay
                F#5        E5          D5
I guess there's nothing to do now but pray

(chorus)