Tom: Cm
Cm, Fm, Gm, Ab
(If you play with a capo on the 3rd fret, the chords are Am, Dm, Em, and F respectively)
Cm
Oh, let me tell my story friend
Fm Gm Cm
That you might learn to stay away from sin
Cm
I took a life not mine to take
Fm Gm Cm
Imprisoned for this haunting dread mistake
Cm
My heart was harder than my soul
Fm Gm Cm
They sentenced me to life without parole
Cm
Where no one cares, we’re all the same
Fm Gm Cm
And I must wear this number for my name
[Chorus]
Ab Cm
Now life to me is black and white
Fm Gm Cm
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
Ab Cm
But this ball and chain around my leg
Fm
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
Gm Cm
When I am dead
Cm
My mother prayed so hard for me
Fm Gm Cm
She did her time down on bended knees
Cm
But I was young and I had no fear
Fm Gm Cm
Her pleading voice still echoes in my ear
Cm
Don’t let the beauty blind your eyes
Fm Gm Cm
This world is filled with discolored lies
Cm
For greener fields don’t sell your soul
Fm Gm Cm
You’ll think you’re rich with a pocket of fool’s gold
[Chorus]
Ab Cm
Now life to me is black and white
Fm Gm Cm
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
Ab Cm
But this ball and chain around my leg
Fm
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
Gm Cm
When I am dead
[Break]
Cm
I’d rather be in this dark cell
Fm Gm Cm
Than to be free and die and go to hell
Cm
God bless the day of my new birth
Fm Gm Cm
I don’t have to pay the price that I deserve
[Chorus]
Ab Cm
Now life to me is black and white
Fm Gm Cm
I’ll wear these stripes until the day I die
Ab Cm
But this ball and chain around my leg
Fm
Won’t drag me down, won’t drag me down
Gm Cm
When I am dead
[Break]
[Ending]
Ab Cm
And when I’m dead and take my flight
Fm Gm Cm
I’ll leave behind this world of black and white
