Artist: Tom Russell
[INTRO]
[C]
[VERSE 1]
Down in the scrub oak country
To the [F]South East Texas [C]Gulf
[C]There used to ride a brakeman
A [Dm]brakeman double [G]tough
He [C]worked the town of Kilgore
And [F]Longview, twelve miles [C]down
And the[F] travellers all said, little East Texas [Am]Red
Was the [G]meanest bull a[C]round
[VERSE]
[C]If you rode by night or the broad daylight
Or the [F]wintry wind or the [C]sun
[C]You could always see little East Texas Red
A-[Dm]sporting his smooth running [G]gun
And the [C]tail got switched down the stems and mains
And [F]everybody [C]said
That the [F]meanest bull on them [Am]shiny irons
Was [G]little East Texas [C]Red
[VERSE]
[C]It was on a cold and a windy old night
And a[F]long towards nine or [C]ten
[C]A couple of boys on the hunt of a job
They [Dm]stood in that blizzardry [G]wind
They were [C]hungry and cold and they knocked on the doors
Of the [F]working people a[C]round
For a [F]piece of meat or a [Am]carrot or spud
Just to [G]boil the stew a[C]round
[VERSE]
[C]Well, East Texas Red comes down the line
And he [F]swung off that old Number [C]Two
[C]He kicked their bucket over a bush
And he [Dm]dumped out all of their [G]stew
And the [C]travellers said, "Little East Texas Red
You better [F]get your business [C]straight
'Cause [F]you're gonna ride the [Am]little black train
Just [G]one year from to[C]day"
[VERSE]
[C]Well, Red he laughed and he climbs on the bank
And he [F]swings off the side of a [C]wheeler
[C]And the boys caught a tanker to Seminole
Then [Dm]west to Ama[G]rillo
And they [C]caught 'em a job of oil field work
And they [F]followed the pipeline [C]down
It [F]took 'em a lot of [Am]places before
The [G]year had rolled a[C]round
[VERSE]
[C]Then on a cold and a windy morning
They [F]caught 'em a Gulf bound [C]train
[C]They shivered and shook with the dough in their clothes
To the [Dm]scrub oak flats a[G]gain
With their [C]warm suit of clothes and their overcoats on
They [F]walked into a [C]store
They [F]paid the man for some [Am]meat and stuff
To [G]boil the stew once [C]more
[VERSE]
[C]The ties they tracked down that cinder dump
'Til they [F]came to the same old [C]spot
[C]Where East Texas Red, just one year ago
Had [Dm]dumped their last stew [G]pot
[VERSE]
[C]Well, the smoke of their fire rose higher and higher
And old [F]Red come down the [C]line
[C]With his head down low in the wintry wind
He [Dm]waved old Number [G]nine
And he [C]walks on down to the jumble yard
Then he [F]comes to the same old [C]spot
And [F]there was the same two [Am]men again
A[G]round that same stew [C]pot
[VERSE]
[C]Red went to his knees and he hollered, "Please,
Don't you [F]pull your trigger on [C]me
[C]I did not get my business straight"
But he [Dm]did not get a [G]say
'Cause a [C]gun wheeled out of an overcoat
And it [F]played that old one-[C]two
And [F]Red was dead when the [Am]other two men
Sat [G]down to eat their [C]stew
[C]
[VERSE 1]
Down in the scrub oak country
To the [F]South East Texas [C]Gulf
[C]There used to ride a brakeman
A [Dm]brakeman double [G]tough
He [C]worked the town of Kilgore
And [F]Longview, twelve miles [C]down
And the[F] travellers all said, little East Texas [Am]Red
Was the [G]meanest bull a[C]round
[VERSE]
[C]If you rode by night or the broad daylight
Or the [F]wintry wind or the [C]sun
[C]You could always see little East Texas Red
A-[Dm]sporting his smooth running [G]gun
And the [C]tail got switched down the stems and mains
And [F]everybody [C]said
That the [F]meanest bull on them [Am]shiny irons
Was [G]little East Texas [C]Red
[VERSE]
[C]It was on a cold and a windy old night
And a[F]long towards nine or [C]ten
[C]A couple of boys on the hunt of a job
They [Dm]stood in that blizzardry [G]wind
They were [C]hungry and cold and they knocked on the doors
Of the [F]working people a[C]round
For a [F]piece of meat or a [Am]carrot or spud
Just to [G]boil the stew a[C]round
[VERSE]
[C]Well, East Texas Red comes down the line
And he [F]swung off that old Number [C]Two
[C]He kicked their bucket over a bush
And he [Dm]dumped out all of their [G]stew
And the [C]travellers said, "Little East Texas Red
You better [F]get your business [C]straight
'Cause [F]you're gonna ride the [Am]little black train
Just [G]one year from to[C]day"
[VERSE]
[C]Well, Red he laughed and he climbs on the bank
And he [F]swings off the side of a [C]wheeler
[C]And the boys caught a tanker to Seminole
Then [Dm]west to Ama[G]rillo
And they [C]caught 'em a job of oil field work
And they [F]followed the pipeline [C]down
It [F]took 'em a lot of [Am]places before
The [G]year had rolled a[C]round
[VERSE]
[C]Then on a cold and a windy morning
They [F]caught 'em a Gulf bound [C]train
[C]They shivered and shook with the dough in their clothes
To the [Dm]scrub oak flats a[G]gain
With their [C]warm suit of clothes and their overcoats on
They [F]walked into a [C]store
They [F]paid the man for some [Am]meat and stuff
To [G]boil the stew once [C]more
[VERSE]
[C]The ties they tracked down that cinder dump
'Til they [F]came to the same old [C]spot
[C]Where East Texas Red, just one year ago
Had [Dm]dumped their last stew [G]pot
[VERSE]
[C]Well, the smoke of their fire rose higher and higher
And old [F]Red come down the [C]line
[C]With his head down low in the wintry wind
He [Dm]waved old Number [G]nine
And he [C]walks on down to the jumble yard
Then he [F]comes to the same old [C]spot
And [F]there was the same two [Am]men again
A[G]round that same stew [C]pot
[VERSE]
[C]Red went to his knees and he hollered, "Please,
Don't you [F]pull your trigger on [C]me
[C]I did not get my business straight"
But he [Dm]did not get a [G]say
'Cause a [C]gun wheeled out of an overcoat
And it [F]played that old one-[C]two
And [F]Red was dead when the [Am]other two men
Sat [G]down to eat their [C]stew
Used chords
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