Tom: Am
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[Verse]
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It happened rather suddenly that the Preacher came to town
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With stories from the testaments of men of great renown
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With his box of patent medicines, he swore to cure all ills
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From the lameness in the horses, to the children's colds and chills
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And he had along his Indian wife and a country music band
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Who sang of peace and brotherhood beside the Rio Grande
[Verse]
Am Em
Now the Preacher quickly gathered sick and poor from miles around
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Who came to him for comfort and to hear his country sound
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But the mayor thought he was trouble when he spoke against the law
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And he saw the growing power of the crowds that he could draw
Em
And he worried when the Preacher bought himself a plot of land
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To settle with his family beside the Rio Grande
[Verse]
Am Em
The saloon was pretty crowded and the stakes was a-running high
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And the girls sang sentimental songs that made us cowboys cry
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We began to criticise the Preacher, marrying a squaw
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And how could he associate with cripples, drunks and whores
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And in a crazy fit the Preacher scattered chips and winning hands
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And condemned it as a den of vice beside the Rio Grande
[Verse]
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Now the boys were drunk and rowdy, and mostly pretty mean
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And we dragged him to the sidewalk and we whipped his shoulders clean
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We said he was responsible for bringing on the drought
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That had burned off all the spring grass and had wiped the young herd out
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The sheriff would not get involved, the law could take no hand
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The Preacher had not harmed a soul
[Verse]
Am Em
We pegged him on the hillside alongside two Apache braves
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Who'd been given picks and shovels and been made to dig their graves
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And when he asked for water, stood and pissed around his feet
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While his tongue swelled up and blackened in the burning desert heat
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And someone said we ought to mark the Preacher with a brand
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To show that he did not belong beside the Rio Grande
[Verse]
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Then the sky began to darken and a breeze whipped up the dust
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And some of us were frightened, while others swore and cursed
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And the Preacher said a few words with his final dying breath
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About forgiving us for what we had done to bring about his death
Em
And as the night began to fall we covered him with sand
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And left his weary bones to bleach
