Chords for Eli was Here Before John BY Ellis And Wince Coles

_ [G] _ _ [F] _ _
It's so nice to see [Bb] you, I'm glad that [F] you're here to celebrate Cabot [C] with me.
[F] But I gotta tell [Bb] you, when I was [F] a boy, [C] something that he [F] liked for me.
We was painting his [Bb] trapskip far down in the [F] cold.
I mentioned our past [C] history.
As [F] he sped in the grass, [Bb] he said, Cabot, [F] may I ask, [C] I was there long [F] before thee.
He said, I remembers that day on the cape, waiting for a turd to [C] fly in.
[F] When I seen her coming to Matthew at once, [C] boy, she was ugly [F] as sin.
I heard Cabot calling from high in the mass, I discovered new land [C] for the king.
[F] Then to his ass over a kettle, down smack on the deck, when my [C] voice from the cliff [F] loudly rang,
Is that you, [C] John?
[F] Now, Eli was there [Bb] before John.
[C] It don't really matter if [F] history is wrong.
So let's just forget [Bb] it, it's over [F] and done.
[C] But Eli was there before John.
As the sun kissed the [Bb] hilltop, I heard [F] Sophie scream on the road to the [C] oak of her will.
[F] If I wasn't [Bb] dreaming, it was Cabot [F] for sure.
He was chasing [C] her [F] down over the hill.
The smile he was [Bb] wearing, that gleam in [F] his eye, he was looking for [C] love, I could tell.
[F] As he chased her in [Bb] circles, each time [F] he would pass right over [C] the [F] old covered well.
I grabbed me old [Bb] musket, she was ready [F] to talk.
If he touched my [C] Sophie, I'd kill.
[F] But the next time around, [Bb] yeah, she quickly [F] bent down, with the cover [C] right [F] over the well.
I lay down old [Bb] Betsy to Sophie [F] I ran, where she stood all alone [C] with her pal.
[F] Oh, the oats, they were [Bb] coming from twenty [F] feet deep, when I [C] shouted [F] down in the well,
Is that you, John?
Now Eli was there before [Bb] John.
[C] It don't really matter if history [F] is wrong.
So let's just forget [Bb] it, it's [F] over and done.
[C] But Eli was there [F] before John.
Well, the sun, it was beating [Bb] its [F] way through the fog, when I woke up and found Sophie [G] gone.
[F] By the well, then I seen her [Bb] with a rope [F] in her hand, said I just [C] passed some soup down to John.
[D] _ [F] With me old wooden ladder, [Bb] got John [F] from the well.
Boy, he was one ignorant [G] man.
[F] He cursed and he called me [Bb] a four [F]-letter word.
Then straight [C] to the mat you he ran.
[F] _ We walked to the cape, she [Bb] was right [F] down below.
As close to the cliff she did [G] sail.
[F] Was then I seen John, yeah, [Bb] his [F] shroud was gone.
He was sitting [C] far out on [F] the rail.
_ I then said to Sophie, [Bb] John's [F] acting some strange.
She said, darling, I'll tell you the truth.
[G] _ [F] John stepped out of line, now [Bb] he's [F] paying the fine, from the hex [C] slacks I put in [F] his suit.
_ I said, I feel guilty, [Bb] Sophie, [F] how about you?
Left John in the well like a dog.
[G] _ [F] She said not a word, but [Bb] her answer [F] was clear, that she [C] loudly called out in [F] the fog.
[C] Now _ _ Eli was there [Bb] before John.
[C] It don't really matter if history is [F] wrong.
So let's just forget [Bb] it, it's over and [C] gone.
But Eli was there before John.
Now Eli was there [Bb] before John.
[C] It don't really matter if history [F] is wrong.
So let's just forget it, it's over and gone.
[C] But Eli was there [F] before John.
Now Eli was there [Bb] before John. _ _ _ _