BUJ Songbook Editor

Dont Take Your Guns To Town - Johnny Cash

[Intro]
[C] [C]

Verse 1:
A [C] young cowboy named Billy Joe grew [G] restless on the [C] farm ,
a boy filled with wanderlust, who [G] really meant no [C] harm.
He [F] changed his clothes and shined his boots and combed his dark hair down.
And his [C] mother cried as he walked out,

|[Chorus]
|"Don't [F] take your guns to [C] town, son.
|[F] Leave your guns at [C] home, Bill.
|Don't [F] take your guns to [C] town."

Verse 2:
He [C] laughed and kissed his mom and said, "your [G] Billy Joe's a [C] man.
I can shoot as quick and straight as [G] anybody can [C]
But I [F] wouldn't shoot without a cause, I'd gun nobody down."
But she [C] cried again as he rode away,

[Chorus]

Verse 3:
He [C] sang a song as on he rode [G], his guns hung at [C] his hips.
He rode into a cattle town, a [G] smile upon his [C] lips.
He [F] stopped and walked into a bar and laid his money down.
But his [C] mother's words echoed again

|[Chorus]
|"Don't [F] take your guns to [C] town, son.
|[F] Leave your guns at [C] home, Bill.
|Don't [F] take your guns to [C] town."

Verse 4:
He [C] drank his first strong liquor then [G] to calm his shaking [C] hand,
and tried to tell himself at last he [G] had become [C] a man.
A [F] dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down.
And he [C] heard again his mother's words

[Chorus]

Verse 5:
[C] Filled with rage the Billy Joe reached [G] for his gun to [C] Draw
but the stranger drew his gun and fired [G] before he even [C] saw.
As [F] Billy Joe fell to the floor the crowd all gathered 'round
and [C] wondered at his final words

|[Chorus]
|"Don't [F] take your guns to [C] town, son.
|[F] Leave your guns at home, Bill [C].
|Don't [F] take your guns to [C] town."

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