Chords for Steve Earle - Dixieland (Live at Farm Aid 2004)

Thank you very much.
_ [D] I am, _ I have written a bunch of songs about the Civil War over
the years and I don't know why that is, but there's been a ton of them.
But I think I
probably am a little different from most Southerners who write songs about the Civil War in that
I'm not a Southerner who believes that the Civil War was fought about states' rights.
I figure it was probably about slavery.
And the reason that I believe that is everything
I've read about it leads me to believe that it was about slavery as slavery related to
economics at the time.
And I believe with all my heart when it gets right [Gm] down to it
whether they tell us or not all wars are [Dm] fought about money.
_ _ _ _ [N] _
This _ song, I stole this character outright from a book called The Killer Angels by Michael
Shara which is a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg.
And for those of you that have
lives and don't sit around reading about the Civil War all the time, the guy in this song
_ he's a composite character based on three guys that actually lived and fought and two
died fighting with the 20th Maine at Gettysburg.
And the 20th Maine was the unit at the end
of the line on top of Little Round Top the second day at Gettysburg.
And if it hadn't
been for them all you motherfuckers would talk like me. _
It was [D] close.
_ _ But this _ [G] _ character Buster Kerane was like a lot of people that were professional soldiers
in that war.
He was from Ireland.
And he believed that the reason he was fighting the Civil
War was he believed he was fighting class war.
He believed that the system that he saw
in the southern United States was the same system that he fought against in Ireland and
left to avoid.
And it never ceases to amaze me the kind of pinko shit you can sneak in
on a bluegrass record.
I like my job.
[D] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Am] _ [D] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [C] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [D] _ _ _
_ I am Kerane and I'm a fighting man.
And I come from [G] County Clare.
And the Brits said
hey [D] man for a penny.
So I took my [Bm] leave of there.
[D] And across the ocean on the Irie Air
the [G] violet stubble float.
And the captain's [D] brother is a railroad man and met us [Em] at the
boat.
[A] So I joined [D] up with the 20th [G] Maine like I told you friend [D] I'm a fighting man.
We're
[A] marching south in the pouring rain and we're all going down to Dixie land.
_ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [A] _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ I'm Kerane
and the 20th Maine in the fight for [G] Chamberlain.
Cause they stood right with us [D] when the Johnnies
came like a [Em] banshee on the wind.
[D] When the smoke cleared out over Gettysburg many [G] a mother
wept.
Many a good boy [D] died this year and the air smelled just [Bm] like death.
[A] I am Kerane and
[D] the [G] 20th Maine and I march [D] to hell and back [A] again.
For Colonel Joshua [D] Chamberlain and
we're all going down to Dixie [A] land. _
[D] I _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ [A] _ [G] _
_ [D] _ am Kerane and the 20th Maine and a damn [G] all gentle man.
Whose only worth [D] is a father's name and the sweat [Bm] of a working man.
[D] Well we come from
the farms and the city streets.
A hundred [G] foreign lands.
We shed our blood in the [D] battle's
heat and now we're all [G] Americans.
_ [A] I am [D] Kerane and the [G] 20th Maine did I tell you friend [D] I'm a fighting
man.
I'll not [A] be back this weekend [Dm] cause we're all going down to [Am] Dixie land.
Hup!
[D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _ _
[Am] _ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _ _