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Tuning:
CHAIN GANG
As recorded by Sam Cooke
(From the 1961 Album SWING LOW)
Words and Music by Sam Cooke
Transcribed by Slowhand
Gtr I (E A D G B E) - 'Clifton White - Electric Guitar'
Gtr II (E A D G B E) - 'Everett Barksdale - Electric Guitar'
Intro
Q=134
G Em
4/4
Gtr I (Clean El. Gtr.)
Q E E +E E E E Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|----^0-------------|----^0-0-(0)-------|
|----^0-0-(0)-------|----^0-------0---0-|
|----^0-------0---0-|----^2---------2---|
|----^2---------2---|----^2-------------|
|-3-----------------|-0-----------------|
|
| Gtr II (Clean El. Gtr.)
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---|
|-----4---------4---|-----4---------4---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------||
|----^0-------------|----^0-0-(0)-------||
|----^0-0-(0)-------|----^0-------0---0-||
|----^0-------0---0-|----^2---------2---||
|----^2---------2---|----^2-------------||
|-3-----------------|-0-----------------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---||
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---||
|-----4---------4---|-----4---------4---||
|-------------------|-------------------||
|-------------------|-------------------||
|-------------------|-------------------||
Interlude
G Em
|--3---|
Q E E +E E E E Q E E +Q Q Q
||--------------------|---------------------|
||o---------------0---|-------0-(0)---------|
||--------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0---------------|
||-----^0-------------|----^2---------------|
||o----^2-------------|----^2-------0---2---|
||--3--^3-------------|-0-------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
||------3---------3---|-----3---------3-----|
||o-----3---------3---|-----5---------5-----|
||------4---------4---|-----4---------4-----|
||--------------------|---------------------|
||o-------------------|---------------------|
||--------------------|---------------------|
CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|------------------|
|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------|
|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------|
|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-|
|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------|
|-------------------|------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|----5---------5---|
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|------------------|
G Em
|--3---|
Q E E E E Q Q E E +Q Q Q
|-----------------|---------------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0-(0)---------|
|---------0---0---|---------------------|
|----^0-0---------|----^2---------------|
|----^2-----------|----^2-------0---2---|
|-3--^3-----------|-0-------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3-------3---|-----3---------3-----|
|-----3-------3---|-----5---------5-----|
|-----4-------4---|-----4---------4-----|
|-----------------|---------------------|
|-----------------|---------------------|
|-----------------|---------------------|
CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|------------------||
|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------||
|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------||
|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-||
|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------||
|-------------------|------------------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|----5---------5---||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---||
|-------------------|------------------||
|-------------------|------------------||
|-------------------|------------------||
Chorus
GQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|---------------0---|-------1-(1)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0-----|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|
|----^2-------------|-3--^3-----------3-|
|-3--^3-------------|-------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7---------7---|-----3---------3---|
|-----8---------8---|-----5---------5---|
|-----7---------7---|-----5---------5---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|---------------0---|-------0-(0)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0---0-|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|
|----^2-------------|----^2-------------|
|-3--^3-------------|-0-----------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7---------7---|-----7---------7---|
|-----8---------8---|-----8---------8---|
|-----7---------7---|-----9---------9---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
1.
GQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E GQ E E E E Q
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|------------------||
|-------------------|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------|-----------0-----o||
|-------0-(0)-------|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------|---------0---0----||
|----^0-------0---0-|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-|----^0-0----------||
|----^2---------2---|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------|----^2-----------o||
|-3--^3-------------|-------------------|------------------|-3--^3------------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7---------7---|-----3---------3---|----7---------7---|-----7-------7----||
|-----8---------8---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|-----8-------8---o||
|-----7---------7---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|-----7-------7----||
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|------------------||
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|-----------------o||
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|------------------||
1st Verse
2.
GQ E E E E Q GQ E E +E E E E
|-----------------||-------------------|
|-----------0-----||---------------0---|
|----^0---0---0---||-------0-(0)-0---0-|
|----^0-0---------||----^0-------------|
|----^2-----------||----^2-------------|
|-3--^3-----------||-3--^3-------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7-------7---||-----3---------3---|
|-----8-------8---||-----3---------3---|
|-----7-------7---||-----4---------4---|
|-----------------||-------------------|
|-----------------||-------------------|
|-----------------||-------------------|
EmQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|----^0-0-(0)-------|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------|
|----^0-------0---0-|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------|
|----^2---------2---|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-|
|----^2-------------|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------|
|-0-----------------|-------------------|------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|----5---------5---|
|-----5---------5---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-----4---------4---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|---------------0---|----^0-0-(0)-------|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0---0-|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-|
|----^2-------------|----^2-------------|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------|
|-3--^3-------------|-0-----------------|-------------------|------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|----5---------5---|
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-----4---------4---|-----4---------4---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|---------------0---|----^0-0-(0)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0---0-|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|
|----^2-------------|----^2-------------|
|-3--^3-------------|-0-----------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---|
|-----4---------4---|-----4---------4---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|------------------||
|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------||
|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------||
|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-||
|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------||
|-------------------|------------------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|----5---------5---||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---||
|-------------------|------------------||
|-------------------|------------------||
|-------------------|------------------||
Chorus
$
GQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|---------------0---|-------1-(1)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0-----|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|
|----^2-------------|-3--^3-----------3-|
|-3--^3-------------|-------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7---------7---|-----3---------3---|
|-----8---------8---|-----5---------5---|
|-----7---------7---|-----5---------5---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|---------------0---|-------0-(0)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0---0-|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|
|----^2-------------|----^2-------------|
|-3--^3-------------|-0-----------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7---------7---|-----7---------7---|
|-----8---------8---|-----8---------8---|
|-----7---------7---|-----9---------9---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
To Coda
GQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E GQ E E E E Q
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-----------------||
|-------------------|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)--------|-----------0-----||
|-------0-(0)-------|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)--------|----^0---0---0---||
|----^0-------0---0-|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4--|----^0-0---------||
|----^2---------2---|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)--------|----^2-----------||
|-3--^3-------------|-------------------|-------------------|-3--^3-----------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|----5---------5----|-----3-------3---||
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7----|-----3-------3---||
|-----4---------4---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7----|-----4-------4---||
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-----------------||
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-----------------||
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-----------------||
2nd Verse
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|---------------0---|----^0-0-(0)-------|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0---0-|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)-------|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4-|
|----^2-------------|----^2-------------|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)-------|
|-3--^3-------------|-0-----------------|-------------------|------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|----5---------5---|
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-----4---------4---|-----4---------4---|-----5---------5---|----7---------7---|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------|
GQ E E +E E E E EmQ E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------|
|---------------0---|----^0-0-(0)-------|
|-------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0-------0---0-|
|----^0-------------|----^2---------2---|
|----^2-------------|----^2-------------|
|-3--^3-------------|-0-----------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|-----3---------3---|
|-----3---------3---|-----5---------5---|
|-----4---------4---|-----4---------4---|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
D.S. al Coda
CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E
|-------------------|-------------------||
|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)--------||
|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)--------||
|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4--||
|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)--------||
|-------------------|-------------------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----3---------3---|----5---------5----||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7----||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7----||
|-------------------|-------------------||
|-------------------|-------------------||
|-------------------|-------------------||
Outro
&
G G Em
|--3---|
Q E E E E Q Q E E +E E E E Q E E +Q Q Q
|-----------------||--------------------|---------------------|
|-----------0-----||o---------------0---|-------0-(0)---------|
|----^0---0---0---||--------0-(0)-0---0-|----^0---------------|
|----^0-0---------||-----^0-------------|----^2---------------|
|----^2-----------||o----^2-------------|----^2-------0---2---|
|-3--^3-----------||--3--^3-------------|-0-------------------|
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E
|-----7-------7---||------3---------3---|-----3---------3-----|
|-----8-------8---||o-----3---------3---|-----5---------5-----|
|-----7-------7---||------4---------4---|-----4---------4-----|
|-----------------||--------------------|---------------------|
|-----------------||o-------------------|---------------------|
|-----------------||--------------------|---------------------|
CQ E E +E E E E D7Q E E +E E E E 4x
|-------------------|---------------------||
|-------1-(1)-------|----3-3-(3)---------o||
|----^0-------0-----|----5-5-(5)----------||
|----^2-------------|----4-4-(4)-0-2-4----||
|-3--^3---------3-4-|-5--5-5-(5)---------o||
|-------------------|---------------------||
|
| Q e E Q e E Q e E Q e E 4x
|-----3---------3---|----5---------5------||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7-----o||
|-----5---------5---|----7---------7------||
|-------------------|---------------------||
|-------------------|--------------------o||
|-------------------|---------------------||
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature Legend
----------------
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
[n] - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> - volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc Legend
-----------
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths
I hear somethin' sayin'
(Well, don't you know)
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
All day long they sayin'
(Well, don't you know)
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
All day long they work so hard
Till the sun is goin' down
Working on the highways and bi-ways
And wearing, wearing a frown
You hear them moanin' their lives away
Then you hear somebody say:
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
Can't you hear them sayin'?
I'm goin' home one of these days
I'm goin' home see my woman, whom I love so dear
But, meanwhile, I go to work right here
(Well, don't you know)
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
That the sound of the men
Working on the chain gang
All day long they sayin'
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my work is so hard
Give me water, I'm thirsty
My, my work is so hard
Whoa, whoa, my, my, my, my, my, my, my work is so hard
Ooo, ooo....