Autoscroll
1 Column
Text size
Transpose 0
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)