Chords for Ode to a Mule
Tempo:
75.75 bpm
Chords used:
B
Bb
Gb
F
Db
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[F]
You ask how come I call my old mule Ruth, when in fact [Bb] the solid truth is that he's
a jack and not no Jenny, that's for sure.
[F] Well, there's no call for you to know, [Dm] but
since you asked, I'll tell you, so [Am] just settle back and heed to what I say.
[D]
It started [Gm] in [Bb] 1861, the war, well [C] it had just begun to be a war.
[Am] I wasn't much, so to speak,
a mule [Bb] skinner, not one to seek fame [Dm] or fortune, [Eb] especially in no war.
Now every man's got
a [Bb] pride, [C] but most times it's deep inside about his job, and mine was attending [F] mules.
My
favorite was the long-eared Jenny.
Now I reckon [Bb] you'll think that I'm a ninny, because I loved
her just like I'd love my mother.
[F] She was faithful, stout, and she [Dm] was smart, and, friend,
she had lots of [Am] heart.
If she'd been a man, [D] I'd have loved her like a brother.
[Gm] Well, we'd
fought [Bb] back with all we had, [C] but still the war was a-goin' bad, [Am] for in 64, Sheffield
hit us Tennessee [Bb] boys hard.
[Dm] And just [Eb] thirty miles away at dawn near Spring Hill on an
early morn, five [Bb] generals [C] that bore Confederate gray had chitlins and bacon and eggs and grits.
[F] Lord, they'd planned to give them [Bb] fifths, but the tide of war just went the [F] other way.
[Db] Five brave men that led Hood's charge was [Gb] met by artillery barrage that mowed them down
just like so much hay.
[B]
Now somebody had to get them men, and by golly, I [Abm] can't tell you
I can't remember [Gb] when I've ever been so proud as I was [Ebm] that day.
Just take [Bbm] old Ruth, the captain said, and when it got [Eb] dark I slowly led my Jenny to
the Harpeth [Abm] River's bank.
[B] [Db] I found them young boys in gray and [Gb] went on Ruth's back.
They
stiffly lay I [B] started back, but then my spirit sort of [E] sank.
A dad-blamed sentry opened fire
and them Yankees did [B] conspire to [Db] add me to their list of casualties.
Well, old Ruth,
she just [Gb] plowed along not a-listenin' to the bullet song, just brushed them off like they
was a swarm of [B] bees.
Well somehow we got back that night, [Gb] and I thank God I was all right.
[Ebm] I'd brought them
boys from where they was a [Bbm]-layin'.
I hadn't even got a sprat, [Eb] so I lit my pipe, and when
the match flared up, [Abm]
I [B] seen old Ruth was just [Db] a-swayin'.
[Bbm] Blood was runnin' down her
side, [B] my throat [Ebm] choked up, and then I cried, and [E] she looked at me, and her eyes was soft
and brown.
She [B] seemed to say, [Db] now don't cry for me, we had a job to do, you see.
[Gb] And then
old Ruth just seemed to [B] slide right down.
[Gb] There's a marker I put on her grave, it reads, Here lies a mule who gave her life, and that's
the truth.
Now every mule I'll ever own will bear your [B] name, so be it known, while I'm
alive, there'll always be a [Gb] Ruth.
[Ebm] There'll always be a [Bbm] Ruth.
[Eb] [Abm]
[B] [Db]
You ask how come I call my old mule Ruth, when in fact [Bb] the solid truth is that he's
a jack and not no Jenny, that's for sure.
[F] Well, there's no call for you to know, [Dm] but
since you asked, I'll tell you, so [Am] just settle back and heed to what I say.
[D]
It started [Gm] in [Bb] 1861, the war, well [C] it had just begun to be a war.
[Am] I wasn't much, so to speak,
a mule [Bb] skinner, not one to seek fame [Dm] or fortune, [Eb] especially in no war.
Now every man's got
a [Bb] pride, [C] but most times it's deep inside about his job, and mine was attending [F] mules.
My
favorite was the long-eared Jenny.
Now I reckon [Bb] you'll think that I'm a ninny, because I loved
her just like I'd love my mother.
[F] She was faithful, stout, and she [Dm] was smart, and, friend,
she had lots of [Am] heart.
If she'd been a man, [D] I'd have loved her like a brother.
[Gm] Well, we'd
fought [Bb] back with all we had, [C] but still the war was a-goin' bad, [Am] for in 64, Sheffield
hit us Tennessee [Bb] boys hard.
[Dm] And just [Eb] thirty miles away at dawn near Spring Hill on an
early morn, five [Bb] generals [C] that bore Confederate gray had chitlins and bacon and eggs and grits.
[F] Lord, they'd planned to give them [Bb] fifths, but the tide of war just went the [F] other way.
[Db] Five brave men that led Hood's charge was [Gb] met by artillery barrage that mowed them down
just like so much hay.
[B]
Now somebody had to get them men, and by golly, I [Abm] can't tell you
I can't remember [Gb] when I've ever been so proud as I was [Ebm] that day.
Just take [Bbm] old Ruth, the captain said, and when it got [Eb] dark I slowly led my Jenny to
the Harpeth [Abm] River's bank.
[B] [Db] I found them young boys in gray and [Gb] went on Ruth's back.
They
stiffly lay I [B] started back, but then my spirit sort of [E] sank.
A dad-blamed sentry opened fire
and them Yankees did [B] conspire to [Db] add me to their list of casualties.
Well, old Ruth,
she just [Gb] plowed along not a-listenin' to the bullet song, just brushed them off like they
was a swarm of [B] bees.
Well somehow we got back that night, [Gb] and I thank God I was all right.
[Ebm] I'd brought them
boys from where they was a [Bbm]-layin'.
I hadn't even got a sprat, [Eb] so I lit my pipe, and when
the match flared up, [Abm]
I [B] seen old Ruth was just [Db] a-swayin'.
[Bbm] Blood was runnin' down her
side, [B] my throat [Ebm] choked up, and then I cried, and [E] she looked at me, and her eyes was soft
and brown.
She [B] seemed to say, [Db] now don't cry for me, we had a job to do, you see.
[Gb] And then
old Ruth just seemed to [B] slide right down.
[Gb] There's a marker I put on her grave, it reads, Here lies a mule who gave her life, and that's
the truth.
Now every mule I'll ever own will bear your [B] name, so be it known, while I'm
alive, there'll always be a [Gb] Ruth.
[Ebm] There'll always be a [Bbm] Ruth.
[Eb] [Abm]
[B] [Db]
Key:
B
Bb
Gb
F
Db
B
Bb
Gb
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ You ask how come I call my old mule Ruth, when in fact [Bb] the solid truth is that he's
a jack and not no Jenny, that's for sure.
_ [F] Well, there's no call for you to know, [Dm] but
since you asked, I'll tell you, so [Am] just settle back and heed to what I say.
[D] _
_ It started [Gm] in [Bb] 1861, the war, well [C] it had just begun to be a war.
[Am] I wasn't much, so to speak,
a mule [Bb] skinner, not one to seek fame [Dm] or fortune, [Eb] especially in no war.
Now every man's got
a [Bb] pride, [C] but most times it's deep inside about his job, and mine was attending [F] mules.
My
favorite was the long-eared Jenny.
Now I reckon [Bb] you'll think that I'm a ninny, because I loved
her just like I'd love my mother.
[F] She was faithful, stout, and she [Dm] was smart, and, friend,
she had lots of [Am] heart.
If she'd been a man, [D] I'd have loved her like a brother. _
[Gm] Well, we'd
fought [Bb] back with all we had, [C] but still the war was a-goin' bad, [Am] for in 64, Sheffield
hit us Tennessee [Bb] boys hard.
[Dm] And just [Eb] thirty miles away at dawn near Spring Hill on an
early morn, five [Bb] generals [C] that bore Confederate gray had chitlins and bacon and eggs and grits.
[F] Lord, they'd planned to give them [Bb] fifths, but the tide of war just went the [F] other way.
_ _ [Db] Five brave men that led Hood's charge was [Gb] met by artillery barrage that mowed them down
just like so much hay.
_ [B]
Now somebody had to get them men, and by golly, I [Abm] can't tell you
I can't remember [Gb] when I've ever been so proud as I was [Ebm] that day.
_ Just take [Bbm] old Ruth, the captain said, and when it got [Eb] dark I slowly led my Jenny to
the Harpeth [Abm] River's bank.
[B] _ [Db] I found them young boys in gray and [Gb] went on Ruth's back.
They
stiffly lay I [B] started back, but then my spirit sort of [E] sank.
A dad-blamed sentry opened fire
and them Yankees did [B] conspire to [Db] add me to their list of casualties.
_ Well, old Ruth,
she just [Gb] plowed along not a-listenin' to the bullet song, just brushed them off like they
was a swarm of [B] bees.
_ _ Well somehow we got back that night, [Gb] and I thank God I was all right.
[Ebm] I'd brought them
boys from where they was a [Bbm]-layin'.
I hadn't even got a sprat, [Eb] so I lit my pipe, and when
the match flared up, [Abm]
I [B] seen old Ruth was just [Db] a-swayin'.
[Bbm] Blood was runnin' down her
side, [B] my throat [Ebm] choked up, and then I cried, and [E] she looked at me, and her eyes was soft
and brown.
She [B] seemed to say, [Db] now don't cry for me, we had a job to do, you see.
_ [Gb] And then
old Ruth just seemed to [B] slide right down.
_ [Gb] There's a marker I put on her grave, it reads, Here lies a mule who gave her life, and that's
the truth.
Now every mule I'll ever own will bear your [B] name, so be it known, _ while I'm
alive, there'll always be a [Gb] Ruth.
_ _ _ [Ebm] _ There'll always be a [Bbm] Ruth.
_ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [Abm] _
_ [B] _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ You ask how come I call my old mule Ruth, when in fact [Bb] the solid truth is that he's
a jack and not no Jenny, that's for sure.
_ [F] Well, there's no call for you to know, [Dm] but
since you asked, I'll tell you, so [Am] just settle back and heed to what I say.
[D] _
_ It started [Gm] in [Bb] 1861, the war, well [C] it had just begun to be a war.
[Am] I wasn't much, so to speak,
a mule [Bb] skinner, not one to seek fame [Dm] or fortune, [Eb] especially in no war.
Now every man's got
a [Bb] pride, [C] but most times it's deep inside about his job, and mine was attending [F] mules.
My
favorite was the long-eared Jenny.
Now I reckon [Bb] you'll think that I'm a ninny, because I loved
her just like I'd love my mother.
[F] She was faithful, stout, and she [Dm] was smart, and, friend,
she had lots of [Am] heart.
If she'd been a man, [D] I'd have loved her like a brother. _
[Gm] Well, we'd
fought [Bb] back with all we had, [C] but still the war was a-goin' bad, [Am] for in 64, Sheffield
hit us Tennessee [Bb] boys hard.
[Dm] And just [Eb] thirty miles away at dawn near Spring Hill on an
early morn, five [Bb] generals [C] that bore Confederate gray had chitlins and bacon and eggs and grits.
[F] Lord, they'd planned to give them [Bb] fifths, but the tide of war just went the [F] other way.
_ _ [Db] Five brave men that led Hood's charge was [Gb] met by artillery barrage that mowed them down
just like so much hay.
_ [B]
Now somebody had to get them men, and by golly, I [Abm] can't tell you
I can't remember [Gb] when I've ever been so proud as I was [Ebm] that day.
_ Just take [Bbm] old Ruth, the captain said, and when it got [Eb] dark I slowly led my Jenny to
the Harpeth [Abm] River's bank.
[B] _ [Db] I found them young boys in gray and [Gb] went on Ruth's back.
They
stiffly lay I [B] started back, but then my spirit sort of [E] sank.
A dad-blamed sentry opened fire
and them Yankees did [B] conspire to [Db] add me to their list of casualties.
_ Well, old Ruth,
she just [Gb] plowed along not a-listenin' to the bullet song, just brushed them off like they
was a swarm of [B] bees.
_ _ Well somehow we got back that night, [Gb] and I thank God I was all right.
[Ebm] I'd brought them
boys from where they was a [Bbm]-layin'.
I hadn't even got a sprat, [Eb] so I lit my pipe, and when
the match flared up, [Abm]
I [B] seen old Ruth was just [Db] a-swayin'.
[Bbm] Blood was runnin' down her
side, [B] my throat [Ebm] choked up, and then I cried, and [E] she looked at me, and her eyes was soft
and brown.
She [B] seemed to say, [Db] now don't cry for me, we had a job to do, you see.
_ [Gb] And then
old Ruth just seemed to [B] slide right down.
_ [Gb] There's a marker I put on her grave, it reads, Here lies a mule who gave her life, and that's
the truth.
Now every mule I'll ever own will bear your [B] name, so be it known, _ while I'm
alive, there'll always be a [Gb] Ruth.
_ _ _ [Ebm] _ There'll always be a [Bbm] Ruth.
_ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ [Abm] _
_ [B] _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _ _