G [Verse]C G I stare out every evening at the distant Northern StarC G It leads us ever Northward and it tells us that we areF G Lost below the Yellowstone, in a land unknown to meC G Ten thousand miles from my loved ones and my home across the sea [Verse]C G We travel through an empty land, the benches are all strewnC G With Bison bones that shine ghost white ‘neath the rising of the moonF G And the red wolf howls an answer as I try to sing on guardC G Indentured to these Texans, in a land so wild and hard [Verse]C G When I hired on to Bill Ducharm In the heat of the Texas sunC G I was unaware of his darker side, his quickness with a gunF G But I made a solemn promise, oh, I’d ride with him through hellC G Deliver the herds to the ends of the earth or the mouth of the Musselshell [Verse]C G Well, I just turned about sixteen when we hit that first cow-townC G I drank my first strong liquor, ohhh, and the women spun me roundF G But of all the barroom angels, with their soft forbidden charmsC G I was stuck on blue-eyed Annie, who belonged to Bill Ducharm [Chorus]F C And the boy became a manF D That night in Annie’s armsF C Oh, Annie cried and begged meD D7 Beware of Bill Ducharm [Verse]G C G We left that Texas cow-town, we pointed the big herd northC G But the first night when the moon was down, I rode back to old Fort WorthF G They were closing up the barroom, oh, they were rolling up the floorC G My heart was in my mouth as I knocked on Annie’s door [Chorus]F C And the boy became a manF D That night in Annie’s armsF C Oh, Annie cried and begged meD D7 Beware of Bill Ducharm [Verse]G C G Old Bill Ducharm had one bad eye and his face was a devilish redC G The results of a bygone ferry fire, when he crawled back from the deadF G And every night in dreams, as I rolled in Annie’s armsC G I’d wait to face old Satan in the guise of Bill Ducharm [Verse]C G When each night 'cross the campfire, I’d face that one bad eyeC G Did he know that I’d betrayed him, had my hour come to die?F G One promise he made true, ah, we rode with him through hellC G We delivered the herds to the ends of the earth and the mouth of the Musselshell [Chorus]F C And the boy became a manF D That night in Annie’s armsF C Oh, Annie cried and begged meD D7 Beware of Bill Ducharm [Instrumental]G C G C G F G C G [Verse]C G But now as we near the Yellowstone, the snow begins to fallC G And soon this dreadful enterprise shall be ending for us allF G It’s then I’ll need fast horses, ah, to fly to Annie’s armsC G And stay one jump ahead of the guns of Bill Ducharm [Chorus]F C And the boy became a manF D That night in Annie’s armsF C Oh, Annie cried and begged meD D7 Beware of Bill Ducharm [Chorus]F C Oh, the boy became a manF D That night in Annie’s armsF C Oh, Annie cried and begged meD D7 Beware of Bill Ducharm [Outro]G C G Ooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oohC G Ooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oohF G Ohh ohh hmmmmmmmmmm hmmmC G Ooooh ooh oooooh ooh ooh oooooh oooh ooh
The Banks Of The Musselshell
Tom Russell
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Tom: