Shades Of Gray chords
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Cry Cry Cry Shades Of Gray written by Robert Earl Keen
Richard Shindell vocal
Lucy Kaplanksy harmony
Dar Williams harmony
Larry Campbell guitar/mandolin
Alan Williams guitar
Richard Gates bass
Doug Plavin drums
C#m E
We made Oklahoma a little after three
B C#m
Randy his brother Bob in my old GMC
We had some moonshine whiskey
E
Some of Bob's homegrown
B C#m
We were so messed up we didn't know if we were drunk or stoned
C#m E
Randy was a sad sack tall kinda frail
B C#m
Bob was a ravin' maniac, crazier than hell
E
They'd been kicked outta high school several years ago
B C#m
For kickin' over porta-cans at the 4H rodeo
C#m E
Since then they done their little dance right outside the law
B C#m
Popped twice in Oklahoma and once in Arkansas
C#m E
And I don't know what possessed me to want to tag along
B C#m
Cause I was raised a Christian and I knew right from wrong
A E
Right or wrong black or white
B C#m
Cross the line you're gonna pay
E B C#m
In the dawn before the light
A B C#m
Live or die by shades of gray
C#m
We stole two charolais heifers
E
From Randy's sweetheart's pa
B C#m
And sold them at the livestock sales outside of Wichita
C#m E
We got nine hundred dollars and never did suspect
B C#m
The world of hurt we'd be in once we cashed that check
E
Next day we heard the story on the local radio
B C#m
And made our plans that very night to go to Mexico
E
And I swear we would've made it if it wasn't for the shine
B C#m
I got sick about the time we crossed that Kansas line
A E
Right or wrong black or white
B C#m
Cross the line you're gonna pay
E B C#m
In the dawn before the light
A B C#m
Live or die by shades of gray
SOLO
C#m E
I was lying in the bar ditch praying I would die
B
When a light came on above us
C#m
And a voice called from the sky
E
A half dozen unmarked cards came screeching to a halt
B C#m
They grabbed Bob he started screaming that it was my fault
E
There were men and dogs and helicopters flying all around
B
They had the brothers on the pickup hood
C#m
And me on the ground
E
Then Bob flew all to pieces but Randy he held tight
B C#m
When a black man in a suit and tie stepped into the light
He told his men to turn us loose
E
And they put down their guns
B
He said these are just some sorry kids
C#m
They ain't the ones
A E
Right or wrong black or white
B C#m
Cross the line you're gonna pay
E B C#m
In the dawn before the light
A B C#m
Live or die by shades of gray
C#m E
They left us by the roadside downhearted and alone
B C#m
Randy got behind the wheel said boys I'm going home
E
So we turned round and faced our fate hung over but alive
B C#m
On that morning Oklahoma late April nintry five
From Cry Cry Cry
Razor & Tie Records 1998
Keen Edge Music (BMI)