JOHN RILEY – Tim O'Brien [Am] John Riley came from [G] Galway Town in the [Am] years of the Irish [D] hunger And he [Am] sailed away to [G] Amerikay when the [G] country was much younger [Am] . . . Now the place was strange and [G] work was scarce, and [Am] all he knew was farming [D] So he [Am] followed his other [G] Irish friends to a [G] job in the U S [Am] Army CHORUS: [G] Adventure calls and [Am] some men run And [G] this is their sad [D] story [Am] Some get drunk on [G] demon rum And [G] some get drunk on [Am] glory Now they marched down [G] Texas way to the [Am] banks of the Rio [D] Grande And they [Am] built a fort on the [G] banks above to [G] taunt old Santa [Am] Annay They were [Am] treated bad and [G] paid worse, and [Am] then the fighting [D] started And the [Am] more they fought the [G] less they thought of the [G] damn old U S [Am] Army CHORUS Now when the church bells ring on a [G] Sunday morn it [Am] set his soul to [D] shiver He saw the [Am] senoritas [G] washing their hair on the [G] far side of the [Am] river Then John Riley and 200 [G] more [Am] Irish mercen[D]aries They [Am] cast their lot, [G] right or not, [G] south of the Rio [Am] Granday CHORUS Now they fought bravely [G] under the flag of the [Am] San Patricios [D] Till the [Am] Yankee soldiers [G] beat them down at the [G] battle of Churu[Dm]busco Then 15 men were [G] whipped like mules, on their [Am] cheeks had a hot iron [D] branded They had to [Am] dig the graves of [G] 50 more who were [G] hanging fate-in-[Am]handed CHORUS then full INSTR verse Now John Riley stands and [G] drinks alone at a [Am] bar in Vera [D] Cruz, And he [Am] wonders if it [G] matters much if you [G] win or if-a you [Am] lose "I'm a man who [G] can't go home, I'm a [Am] vagabond," says [D] he, "I'm a [Am] victim of some [G] wanderlust and [G] divided loyal[Am]ty."

Tim O'Brien - John riley