Steve Earle - Tom ames prayer

^GEveryone in Nagadoches knew Tom Ames would come to some bad ^Dend, Well, the s^Emheriff had caught him stealing c^Chickens and such by the ^Gtime that ^Dhe was ^Gten.

^GAnd one day his daddy took a 10 dollar bill and he tucked it in his ^Dhand, He said ^EmI can tell you're headed for ^Ctrouble son, and your ^Gmama wouldn't ^Dunder^Gstand.

^GSo he took that money and his brother's old bay and left without a word of t^Dhanks, Fell ^Emin with a crowd in some ^Cborder town ^GTook to ^Drobbin' ^Gbanks.

^GWell, outside the law your luck'll run out fast, a few years came and ^Dwent; 'til he's ^Emtrapped in an alley in A^Cbilene with ^Gall but ^Dfour shells ^Gspent.

^GAnd he realized prayin' was the only thing that he hadn't ever ^Dtried; ^Emwell, he wasn't sure he k^Cnew quite how but he ^Glooked up ^Dto the ^Gsky.

^GSaid "You don't owe me nothin' and as far as I know, Lord I don't owe nothin' to ^Dyou ^EmI ain't askin' for a ^Cmiracle Lord just a ^Glittle bit of ^Dluck will ^Gdo.

^GAnd you know I ain't never prayed before but it always seemed to ^Dme that ^Emprayin's the same as ^Cbeggin' Lord I don't ^Gtake no ^Dchar^Gity.

^GYeah, but right now Lord with my back to the wall I can't help but re^Dcall how they ^Emnearly hung me for ^Cstealin' a horse in ^GFt. ^DSmith, ^GArkansas

^GJudge Parker said guilty and the gavel came down just like a cannon ^Dshot. And I ^Emwent away ^Cquietly I beg^Gan to ^Dfile and ^Gplot.

^GWell, they sent the preacher down to my cell he said, "the Lord is your only ^Dhope, he's the ^Emonly friend that you're ^Cgonna have when you ^Ghit the ^Dend of Parker's ^Grope."

^GWell, I guess he could've kept on preachin' 'til Christmas but he turned his back on ^Dme. ^EmI put a homemade blade to that ^Cgolden throat and asked the ^Gdeputy ^Dfor the ^Gkey.

^GYeah, it ain't the first close call I ever had as I'm sure you already ^Dknow I had some ^Emhelp from you Lord and the ^CDevil himself, it's been ^Gstrictly ^Dtouch and ^Ggo.

^GYeah, but who in the hell am I talkin to? There ain't no one here but ^Dme (single strum each chord) And then he ^Emcocked both his pistols, and he ^Cspit in the dirt, and he ^Gwalked out ^Din the ^Gstreet.