C Am C Am

C                   Am
I'm holding my head up
C              Am
I'm not gonna cry
C                    Am
Or tell them that I need her
         F                   G
And that without her I would die
C             Am
I'm not gonna argue
C                    Am
They won't listen to me
C              Am
I'm just gonna stay right here
F         G      C
Under the poplar tree

Am C Am

C                 Am
Let me tell you a story
C                Am
It happened this way
C                  Am
It was born out of longing
     F               G
In a man that's gone astray

C                Am
I've been to the valley
C                Am
In the shadow of death
C                 Am
I've crossed many rivers
F         G          C
Wearing a scar on my chest

F                 C
Can't outrun this heartache?
F                  C
A man, he sure can try
F                     Am
I gave my all to that woman
         F                 G    C
Then she turned around and said goodbye

Am C Am

C               Am
I was in a high desert
C                 Am
Dell City was the town
C                          Am
That's when my luck turned south
F                            G
This ol' boy started showin' out
C                         Am
He killed the clerk and a young girl
C                     Am
Who was only standin' there
C                    Am
He looked at me real peculiar
         F              G           C
With the bullets flying through the air

F              C
I lit out in a hurry
F                C
He went out in a hearse
F               Am
Heartbroken and wanted
         F              G             C
Couldn't tell you which one of 'em is worse

Am C Am

C                       Am
He must've been real important
C                            Am
Cause his posse caught up to me
C                     Am
I was holding my head up
F                        G      C
When they hung me from a poplar tree
           Am
Yes, they hung me from a poplar tree