The Ghost Of Tom Joad Cifras

The Ghost of Tom Joad
Bruce Springsteen (from High Hopes)
 
The High Hopes version of this song differs in instrumentation and key
from the acoustic version on The Ghost of Tom Joad CD, but is very similar
to the live version on the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Concert CD. Both feature Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine.
 
Note: The song uses both 4/4 and 3/4 measures. The 3/4 measures are marked
with an asterisk (*).
 
| Em | Em | Em | Em | Em | Em | Em | Em |
 
[Verse]
| Em                                    | Em     |
  Man walkin' 'long the railroad tracks   . . . .
|*G                                |D
  Goin' some place there's no going back . .
           |D                                      | D      |
  Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge   . . . .
    |*Em                 D        |Em      |
  Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
| Em                                       | Em     |
  Shelter line stretchin' round the corner   . . . .
|*G                       |D
  Welcome to the new world order
          |D                                      | D      |
  Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest  . . . .
   |*Em               D        |Em      |
  No home, no job, no peace, no rest
 
[Chorus]
           |C                       | C      |
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . .
             |*G                    G/F#    |Em
  But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
     |D                                       | D      |
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . .
|*Em                D           |Em   | Em | Em | Em |
  Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad
 
[Verse 2]
            |Em                                  | Em      |
  He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag   . . . .
         |*G                           |D
  Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
                      |D
  Waitin' for when the last shall be first 
                              | D       |
  And the first shall be last   . . . .
     |*Em                       D   |Em      |
  In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
 
           |Em                                  | Em      |
  You got a one-way ticket to the promised land   . . . .
 
          |*G                                   |D
  You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
 |D                                  | D       |
  Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock   . . . .
|*Em                    D  |Em      |
  Bathin' in the city's aqueduct
 
[Chorus]
           |C                       | C       |
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . .
|*G                 G/F#     |Em
  Where it's headed everybody knows
     |D                                       | D      |
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . .
|*Em             D           |Em         |
  Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad . . .
 
| Em | Em | *G | D | D | D | *Em . D | Em |
| Em | Em | *G | D | D | D | *Em . D | Em |
| C | C | *G . G/F# | Em | D | D | *Em . D | Em <> | Em <> |
 
| Em               | Em      |
  . . Now Tom said,  . . . .
          |Em                            | Em      |
 "Mom, wherever there's cop beatin' a guy  . . . .
           |*G                  |D
  Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
                 |D                                           | D      |
  Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air . . . .
|*Em                D      |Em          |
  Look for me, Mom. I'll be there . . . 
          |Em                                     | Em      |
  Wherever somebody's fightin' for a place to stand . . . .
     |*G                      |D
  Or a decent job or a helping hand
          |D                               | D      |
  Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free  . . . .
|*Em                      D         |Em        |
  Look in their eyes, Ma. You'll see me" . . .
 
[Chorus]
           |C                       | C       |
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . .
|*G                 G/F#     |Em
  Where it's headed everybody knows
     |D                                       | D      |
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . .
|*Em                D      |Em         |
  With the ghost of old Tom Joad
 
           |C                       | C       |
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . .
             |*G                    G/F#    |Em
  But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
     |D                                       | D      |
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . .
| Em       G        D       Em   |
  With the ghost of old Tom Joad
| Em       G        D       Em   |
  With the ghost of old Tom Joad
| Em       G        D       Em   | *Em |
  With the ghost of old Tom Joad
 
| C | C | *G . G/F# | Em | D | D | *Em . D | Em |
| C | C | *G . G/F# | Em | D | D | *Em . D | Em |
| C | C | *G . G/F# | Em | D | D | *Em . D | Em |
| C | C | *G . G/F# | Em | D | D | *Em . D | Em |
| C | C | *G . G/F# | Em | D | D |
| Em G D Em | Em G D Em | Em G D Em | Em G D Em <> |
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