40% OFF ALL MEMBERSHIPS

BLACK FRIDAY SALE

Good for both monthly and yearly memberships. Discount applies to the lifetime of the membership.

Get the Heartwood Guitar Instruction

FREE Campfire Singalong Songbook

20 CLASSIC SONGS your friends will love

Beatles - Petty - Johnny Cash - Eagles - John Denver - Dylan

Image

This chart will look wacky unless you
rotate your phone


Folsom Prison Blues

Johnny Cash


You can find audio files explaining each part of this song here: Jam Tracks
(near bottom of page)

 

Capo 2

 

Chord Guide

       213 4

B7:   x21202

        123

A:    x02220

       231

E:    022100

 

 

Strum: B   D U B   D U

       1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

 

Intro:  / B7 - - - / - - - - / E - - - / - - - - / - - - - / - - - - /

 

    E (8)

I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine,
Since, I don't know when,

        A (4)
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison,

                                     E (4)
And time keeps draggin' on,

              B7 (4)
But that train keeps a-rollin',

                            E (2)
On down to San Antone.

         E (8)
When I was just a baby,
My Mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don't ever play with guns,"

           A (4)
But I shot a man in Reno,

                            E (4)
Just to watch him die,

             B7 (4)
When I hear that whistle blowin',

                                E (2)
I hang my head and cry.

Solo (instrumental verse)

 

   E (8)
I bet there's rich folks eatin',
In a fancy dining car,
They're probably drinkin' coffee,
And smokin' big cigars,

           A (4)
But I know I had it comin',

                            E (4)
I know I can't be free,

                 B7 (4)
But those people keep a-movin',

                                      E (2)
And that's what tortures me.

 

Solo (instrumental verse)

                    E (8)
Well, if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move out over a little,
Farther down the line,

  A (4)
Far from Folsom Prison,

                                    E (4)
That's where I want to stay,

           B7 (4)
And I'd let that lonesome whistle,

                           E (2)
Blow my blues away.

 

/ B7 - - - / - - - - / E - - - / E (hold) /

 

 

 

 

 

Intro:

 

 

 

 

 

 


This file is the author's own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It's intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.