G
[Verse]
CG
I stare out every evening at the distant Northern Star
CG
It leads us ever Northward and it tells us that we are
FG
Lost below the Yellowstone, in a land unknown to me
CG
Ten thousand miles from my loved ones and my home across the sea
[Verse]
CG
We travel through an empty land, the benches are all strewn
CG
With Bison bones that shine ghost white ‘neath the rising of the moon
FG
And the red wolf howls an answer as I try to sing on guard
CG
Indentured to these Texans, in a land so wild and hard
[Verse]
CG
When I hired on to Bill Ducharm In the heat of the Texas sun
CG
I was unaware of his darker side, his quickness with a gun
FG
But I made a solemn promise, oh, I’d ride with him through hell
CG
Deliver the herds to the ends of the earth or the mouth of the Musselshell
[Verse]
CG
Well, I just turned about sixteen when we hit that first cow-town
CG
I drank my first strong liquor, ohhh, and the women spun me round
FG
But of all the barroom angels, with their soft forbidden charms
CG
I was stuck on blue-eyed Annie, who belonged to Bill Ducharm
[Chorus]
FC
And the boy became a man
FD
That night in Annie’s arms
FC
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
DD7
Beware of Bill Ducharm
[Verse]
GCG
We left that Texas cow-town, we pointed the big herd north
CG
But the first night when the moon was down, I rode back to old Fort Worth
FG
They were closing up the barroom, oh, they were rolling up the floor
CG
My heart was in my mouth as I knocked on Annie’s door
[Chorus]
FC
And the boy became a man
FD
That night in Annie’s arms
FC
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
DD7
Beware of Bill Ducharm
[Verse]
GCG
Old Bill Ducharm had one bad eye and his face was a devilish red
CG
The results of a bygone ferry fire, when he crawled back from the dead
FG
And every night in dreams, as I rolled in Annie’s arms
CG
I’d wait to face old Satan in the guise of Bill Ducharm
[Verse]
CG
When each night 'cross the campfire, I’d face that one bad eye
CG
Did he know that I’d betrayed him, had my hour come to die?
FG
One promise he made true, ah, we rode with him through hell
CG
We delivered the herds to the ends of the earth and the mouth of the Musselshell
[Chorus]
FC
And the boy became a man
FD
That night in Annie’s arms
FC
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
DD7
Beware of Bill Ducharm
[Instrumental]
GCGCGFGCG
[Verse]
CG
But now as we near the Yellowstone, the snow begins to fall
CG
And soon this dreadful enterprise shall be ending for us all
FG
It’s then I’ll need fast horses, ah, to fly to Annie’s arms
CG
And stay one jump ahead of the guns of Bill Ducharm
[Chorus]
FC
And the boy became a man
FD
That night in Annie’s arms
FC
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
DD7
Beware of Bill Ducharm
[Chorus]
FC
Oh, the boy became a man
FD
That night in Annie’s arms
FC
Oh, Annie cried and begged me
DD7
Beware of Bill Ducharm
[Outro]
GCG
Ooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
CG
Ooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
FG
Ohh ohh hmmmmmmmmmm hmmm
CG
Ooooh ooh oooooh ooh ooh oooooh oooh ooh