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Capo: 2 Tuning: E A D G B E
The Ghost of Tom Joad Bruce Springsteen (from High Hopes) There are several version of the tab online; however, this is the only Bruce Springsteen version that clearly distinguishes which measures are 4/4 and 3/4, which is essential to maintaining proper rhythm. The 3/4 measures are marked with an asterisk (*), and measures are separated by an upright bar: "| " The rare 2/4 measures are preceded by (2/4) | Am | Am | (2/4) G | Am | Am [Verse] | Am | Am | Man walkin' 'long the railroad tracks . . . . | * C | G Goin' some place there's no going back . . | G | G Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge . . . . | * Am G | Am Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge | Am | Am Shelter line stretchin' round the corner . . . . | * C | G Welcome to the new world order | G | G Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest . . . . | * Am G | Am No home, no job, no peace, no rest [Chorus] | F | F Well, the highway is alive tonight . . . . | * C C/B | Am But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes | G | G I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light . . . . | * Am G | Am Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad [Verse 2] | Am | Am He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag . . . . | * C | G Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag | G Waitin' for when the last shall be first | G And the first shall be last . . . . | * Am G | Am In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass | Am | Am You got a one-way ticket to the promised land . . . . | * C | G You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand | G | G Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock . . . . | * Am G | Am Bathin' in the city aqueduct [Chorus] | F | F Well, the highway is alive tonight . . . . | * C C/B | Am Where it's headed everybody knows | G | G I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light . . . . | * Am G | Am Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad . . . [Harmonica Solo] | F | F | * C C/B | Am | (2/4) G | Am | Am | Am | Am | . . Now Tom said, . . . . | Am | Am | "Mom, wherever there's cop beatin' a guy . . . . | * C | G Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries | G | G Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air . . . . | * Am G | Am Look for me, Mom. I'll be there . . . | Am | Am Wherever somebody's fightin' for a place to stand . . . . | * C | G Or a decent job or a helping hand | G | G Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free . . . . | * Am G | Am Look in their eyes, Ma. You'll see me" . . . [Chorus] | F | F Well, the highway is alive tonight . . . . | * C C/B | Am But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes | G | G I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light . . . . | * Am G | Am With the ghost of old Tom Joad | F | F | * C C/B | Am | G | G | * Am . G | Am | F | F | * C C/B | Am | G | G | * Am . G | Am (hold and let ring out)