Wake Up John The Hanging Song

[(intro) ]Dm A (7x) G D F (verso 1) A F G A A priest joins the procession just to help me kneel Bm C#m D Dm With a warder at my elbow and another at my heel A F G A Marching in the morning down a path I've lately seen Bm C#m D Dm I was sleeping in this garden, am I still within my dream? A F G A The echo of my heartbeat is the beating of a drum Bm C#m D Dm And all the earth is singing with life's sweet hum A F G A We filed in solemn silence, shuffled through a door Bm C#m G A The place where life is taken for the letter of the law (Refrão) A D E Shake the holy water, summon up the guard B A G F#m Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard (verso 2) F#m Bm A rope was hanging from the roof, a sight which puzzles me F#m B I thought a gibbet and a guard would make a gallows tree E G But now all is revealed, stamped there is the command A B My feet are on the trapdoor with a rope around my hand A F G A And now the executioner is shaking hands with me Bm C#m D Dm "My duty I must carry out, you poor fellow," says he A F G A A rope is tied around my feet and a bag upon my head Bm C#m D Dm And then the noose which separates the living from the dead (Refrão) (verso 3) F#m Bm There he whispers to me "Have you anything to say?" F#m Bm My mouth is dry, my throat is tight, I answer "Drop away" E G Silence now surrounds me, my heart is beating on A B The trapdoor hardly moves at all, my life is still my own (violino solo 8x) A F G A A F G A They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still bound Bm C#m D Dm While a carpenter is called for and an explanation found A F G A "The rain has warped the timbers," I hear the hangman say Bm C#m D Dm "It's funny but it worked well, I tried it yesterday" F#m Bm "All is mended now," they say, "your ordeal's nearly over F#m B Your life's as good as ended," but I hear their voices waver E G Once more the bolt is shaken and again I hang in limbo A B While the guards jump on the trapdoor and my body stands on tip-toe (Refrão) (verso 4) A F G A They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still tied Bm C#m D Dm A warder holds onto the noose, the trapdoor opens wide A F G A Is it magic or coincidence that keeps me on the brink? Bm C#m D Dm It seems to work without me, "Will it kill me now?" I think F#m Bm "Please, I'm tired of living and I really want to die" F#m B I was taken to the scaffold and I heard the hangman cry E G "Lee, I'm truly sorry, forgive these hands of mine" A B He three\w the bolt and I felt the jolt the third and final time F#m Bm My life was spared that morning 'cos it wasn't theirs to take F#m B Three's the most the law requires, a man to feel the stake (Refrão 2x)