Lyrics:

Am
CHORD INTRO: [Am-G-Am] X 2

[Am] I was sittin' by the [G] road in Blackjack [Am] County.
Not [C] knowing that that the Sheriff paid a [E7] bounty,
For [Am] men like me that [G] didn't have a [F] penny to their [E] name.
They [Am] locked my leg to [G] 35 pounds of [F]Blackjack [G] County [Am]chains

[Am] And all we had to [G] eat was bread and [Am] water,
Each [C] day we built the road a mile and a [E7] quarter,
A [Am] Black Snake Whip, would [G] cut the back, of [F] any man who com-[E]-plained,
But we [Am]couldn't fight back wearing [G]35 pounds of [F]Blackjack [G] County [Am]chains

[Am-G-Am]

[Am] One night while the [G] Sheriff was a-[Am]-sleeping,
We [C] all gathered round him slowly [E7] creeping,
And [Am] Heaven help me [G] to forget that [F] night in the cold cold [E] rain,
When we [Am] beat him to death with [G] 35 pounds of [F] Blackjack [G] County [Am] chains

[Am] Now the whip marks are all [G] healed and I'm [Am] thankful,
There's [C] nothing but the scar around my [E7] ankle.
But [Am] most of all I'm [G] glad no man will [F] be a slave a-[E]-gain,
To a [Am] Black Snake Whip, and [G] 35 pounds of [F]Blackjack [G] County [Am] chains