Am  G  D  Am
[Verse 1]
Am                           G
All my life I'd never been a lucky man
                   D
Saw the back of my daddy's hand
                       Am
Lost your momma to the promised land
[Verse 2]
Am                         G
In my time I'd never had a thing that's mine
                      D
Till they handed me a baby fine
          Am
My little girl
[Bridge 1]
Am                G
There're only two things I know
Dm                    Am
 I get ugly when the whiskey flows
Dm                   Am
Wanted you to know I love you so
E
And I would kill before I let you go
[Chorus]
Am
Taking off for Mississippi
G
Wearing someone else's name
D
Brought you in this world and I
    E                G        Am
can take you from it just the same
Am
If you leave for Mississippi
G
I will beat you at your game
D
Brought you in this world and I
    E                G        Am
can take you from it just the same
Am  G  D  Am
[Verse 3]
Am
My dear one
                        G
Heard your whispering your plans to run
                  D
Off to marry some rich man's son
                       Am
I bet he's never met a poor man's gun
[Bridge 2]
Am                  G
In the darkness you could not see
Dm                Am
The drunken devil instructed me
Dm               Am
Two bullets in a crimson sea
E
Now I'm certain that you'll never be
[Chorus]
Am
Taking off for Mississippi
G
Wearing someone else's name
D
Brought you in this world and I
    E                G        Am
can take you from it just the same
Am
If you leave for Mississippi
G
I will beat you at your game
D
Brought you in this world and I
    E                G        Am
can take you from it just the same
​
Am  G  D  Am  Am  G  D  E  G  Am
[Verse 4]
Am
Grief and sin
                       G
When the righteousness of you sets in
                    D
And the blood in my veins begins
          Am
to ramble on
[Verse 5]
Am
Now I know we can
                    G
stand and judge the execution man
                          D
But we all have to make a trembling stand
           Am
before the sun
Am  G  C
Maple tree
         Am       G     C    E
Can your branches carry me
           Am              G
Before the war, before the wine
         Dm                  Am
Before I stole what wasn't mine
        F/C      E            Am  G  D  Am