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Claude Dallas

Ian Tyson

Text File

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From: "Jim and Donna Lawrence" 
Subject: t/tyson_ian/claude_dallas.crd
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 14:57:42 -0400

Song: Claude Dallas
Sung by: Ian Tyson
CD: Cowboyography
Written by: Ian Tyson/Tom Russell
Transcribed by: M. Lawrence

Capo 2nd Fret

Intro: Am   G    Dm    F
   Am                                                              G
1.In a land the Spanish once had called the Northern Mystery
             Dm                                                 F
Where rivers run and disappear  And the Mustang still lives free
             Am                                                           G
By the Devil?s wash and the coyote hole  In the wild Owyee Range
           Dm                                           F
Am
Somewhere in the sage tonight  The wind calls out his name Aye Aye Aye
                                                                      G
2.Come gather round me buckaroos  And a story I will tell
                 Dm                                        Am
?Bout the fugitive Claude Dallas  Who just broke out of jail
                                                                     G
You might think this tale is history  From before the West was won
              Dm                                                     Am
But the events that I?ll describe took place in 1981
                                                            G
3. He was born out in Virginia  Left home when school was through
             Dm                             Am
In the deserts of Nevada  He became a buckaroo
                                                       G
He learned the ways of cattle  He learned to sit a horse
               Dm                                            Am
And he always packed a pistol  And he practiced deadly force

Chorus 1:
           C                                                  G
Then Claude he became a trapper  He dreamed of the bygone days
        Dm                                      F
He studied bobcat logic  In the wild and silent ways
           C                                                    G
In the bloody runs near paradise  In the monitors down south
Dm                                        F
Am
Trapping cats and coyotes  Living hand and mouth Aye Aye Aye

4. Then Claude took to living all alone  Out many miles from town
A friend Jim Stevens brought supplies  And he stayed to hang around
That day two wardens Pogue and Elms  Drove in to check Claude out
They were seeking violations  And to see what Claude?s about
5. Now Claude he had hung some venison  He had a bobcat pelt or two
Pogue claimed they were out of season  He says, ?Dallas you?re all through?
But Dallas would not leave his camp  He refused to go to town
As the wind howled through the bull camp  They stared each other down
Chorus 2.
It?s hard to say what happened next  Perhaps we?ll never know
They were going to take Claude into jail  And he?d vowed he?d never go
Jim Stevens heard the gunfire  And when he turned around
Bill Pogue was fallin? backwards  Conley Elms he fell face down Aye Aye Aye
6. Jim Stevens walked on over  There was a gun near Bill Pogue?s hand
It?s hard to say who?d drawn his first  But Claude had made his stand
Claude said, ?I?m justified Jim?  They were going to cut me down?
A man?s got a right to hang some meat   When he?s livin? this far from town?
7. It took 18 men and 15 months  To finally run Claude down
In the sage outside paradise  They drove him to the ground
Convicted up in Idaho  Manslaughter by decree
Thirty years at maximum  But soon Claude would break free
Chorus 3.
There?s two sides to this story  There may be no right or wrong
There may be no right or wrong  The lawmen and the renegade
Have graced a thousand songs  So the story is an old one
Conclusion?s hard to draw  But Claude?s out in the sage tonight
He may be the last outlaw Aye Aye Aye
Repeat 1st verse