The Ballad of Barbra Re-written by: Johnny Cash KEY: Bb / CAPO: 1st Fret / Play: A INTRO: (A) D------------------ A-0--------------0- E---4-2-0--0-2-4--- (A) In a southern town where I was born (A) (E) (A) That's where I got my education (A) I worked in the fields and I walked in the woods (A) (E) (A) And I wondered at creation I recall the sun in a sky of blue And the smell of green things growin' And I lived everyday and I lived anyway Anyway the wind was blowin' But then I heard of a cultured city life Breath-takin' lofty steeples And the day I called myself a man I left my land and my people KEY CHANGE Key: Eb / CAPO: 1st Fret / Play: D (D) And I rambled North and I rambled East (D) (A) (D) And I tested and I tasted (D) And a girl or two took me round and round (D) (A) (D) But always left me wasted In a world that saw concrete and steel With nothin' green ever growin' Where the buildings hide the rising sun And stop the free wind from blowin' Where they sleep all day and they wake all night To a world of drink and laughter I met that girl that I thought would be The one that I was after KEY CHANGE Key: Bb / CAPO: 1st Fret / Play: A In a soft blue gown and a formal tux Beneath that lofty steeple He said do you Barbra take this man Will you be one of his people And she said I will and she said I do And the world looked mighty pretty And we lived in a fancy downtown flat Cause she loved the noisy city Then the days grew cold beneath the yellow sky And I longed for green things growin' And I talked of home and my people there But she'd not agree to goin' KEY CHANGE Key: F / CAPO: 1st Fret / Play: E (E) Then her hazel eyes turned away from me (E) (B7) (E) With a look that wasn't very pretty (E) And she turned into concrete and steel (E) (B7) (E) And she said I take the city KEY CHANGE Key: Bb / CAPO: 1st Fret / Play: A Now the cars go by on the interstate And my pack is on my shoulder And I'm goin' home where I belong Much wiser now and older