Murder Ballads Chords

Guitar chords transcribed by Andy Field

Table of Contents:

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SONG OF JOY

Gm
Have mercy on me sir
Allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay

                            G#
and my bones are cold right through

Eb
I will tell you of a story

D
of a man and his family

      Gm
and I swear that it is true

Gm
Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
She was a sweet and happy thing
Her eyes were bright as jewels
And we were married in the spring
I had no idea what happiness a little love could bring

                    G#
Or what life had in store

Eb
But all things move towards their end

D
All things move toward their end

   Gm
of that you can be sure.

Hit it.

Gm             Cm                                 Gm
la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la  la la

Gm             Cm                                 Gm
la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la  la la

Repeat over remaining verses.
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STAGGER LEE


D
It was back in '32 when times were hard
He had a Colt .45 and a deck of cards

Am
Stagger Lee

D
He wore rat-drawn shoes and an old Stetson hat
Had a '28 Ford, had payments on that

Am
Stagger Lee

repeat over remaining bits

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HENRY LEE

Am - arpeggio for intro


Am
Get down get down little Henry Lee

                        Dm
And stay all night with me

You won't find a girl in this damned world

                       Am
That will compare with me

Am      G
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow

C               Am
la la la la la,  la la la la lee

Dm                              Am
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee


Repeat over remaining verses

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LOVELY CREATURE

This is a Cm chord throughout the whole song.

It doesn't change at all (piano plays the odd Cm7) so it isn't
really worth typing any words.

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WHERE THE WILD ROSES GROW



   Gm                 Cm   Gm
He called me the wild ro - se

Gm     Bb             D
But my name was Elisa Day

       Gm                      Cm   Gm
Why he called me that I do not kn - ow

Gm               F    Gm
For my name was Elisa Day


       Gm                          Bb
On the first day I saw her, I knew she was the one

     Cm                    D
She stared in my eyes and smiled

         Gm                          Bb
For her lips were the colour of the roses

       Cm                   D
Which grew by the River all bloody and wild


         Gm                     Bb
When he knocked on my door and entered the room

    Cm                   D
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace

         Gm                   Bb
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand

    Cm                      D
he wiped up the tears which ran down my face



He called me the wild rose


repeat chords over remaining verses
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THE CURSE OF MILLHAVEN

noise
Am - intro

Am
I live in a town called Millhaven

                                      Dm
And it's small and it's mean and it's cold


But if you come around just as the sun goes down

                                     Am
You can watch the whole town turn to gold

G
It's around about then that I used to go a roaming

        C            Am
Singing La la la la, La la la lie

Dm                      (C)  (B)   Am
All God's children they all gotta die


Repeat over remaining verses.
Bracketed notes for bass.

Note for trivia buffs - this is exactly the same chord progression as
Henry Lee -it even has the la la la la's!!

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THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Intro - C / Am / F / G /

C                       Am
They found Mary Bellows cuffed to the bed

       Dm                     G
With a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head

F       G     C      / G /
O poor Mary Bellows


Repeat over remaining verses.

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CROW JANE

D - intro

     D           D         G                   D
Crow jane, crow jane crow jane crow Jane, Crow jane

D
Horrors in her head


That her tongue dare not name


lived all alone by the river


the rolling rivers of pain

      G                    D
Crow Jane  Crow Jane Crow Jane Ah hah huh


Repeat over remaining verses.

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O'MALLEY'S BORE

Cm
I am tall and I am thin


Of an enviable height


and I've been known to be quite handsome

                                      Fm
From a certain angle and in a certain light

Cm
Well i turned in to O'malley's

..........


Repeat ad infinitum!

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DEATH IS NOT THE END

A
When you're sad and when you're lonely


and you haven't got a friend

     E                              A
just remember that death is not the end

A
And all that you held sacred
Falls down and does not mend

        E                           A
Just remember that death is not the end

A                    A
not the end, not the end

        E                           A
just remember that death is not the end.



repeat over remaining verses until ...

middle 8 -


A       D
For the tree of life is growing

           A
where the spirit never dies

        D
And the bright light of salvation

       A              E
Up in dark and empty skies


back to the verse chord pattern


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The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane by Nick Cave


Cm
Intro -


Cm
There's a thick set man with frog eyes who was standing by the door

       Bb
and a little bald man with wing nut ears was waiting in the car

     G#                    Bb                  Fm              Bb
Well Robert Moore past the frog eyed man as he walked into the bar

          Cm
and Betty Coltrane she jumped under the table


Cm
What's your pleasure asked the barman he had a face like boiled meat

           Bb
"There's a girl called Betty Coltrane who I have come to see"

       G#                Bb                  Fm          Bb
Well I haven't seen that girl round here for more than a week"

          Cm
and Betty Coltrane she hid beneath the table.


Note:
In actual fact the guitar only ever plays the last two
lines of each phrase (i.e. G# Bb Fm Bb Cm). The other
lines are bass only. However you can play guitar over
the whole thing if you don't have access to a band!
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As usual - apologies for any mistakes in the chords (I was going by my ears and the record and I am only human!). If anyone spots any glaringly obvious mistakes then let me know - otherwise enjoy playing the songs and singing along at home!!

Love,

Andy xxx

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