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Ballad Of Jack Reilly by Johnny McEvoy
Ballad Of Jack Reilly
Tuning:E A D G B E
Key:G
Capo:no capo
[Verse 1]
G F Em C
His hair was red, his eyes were blue, his age was eighteen years
G C. G. C D
And as they sailed all round Cape Horn his eyes filled up with tears
G D Em C
For he knew he’d never see his home or native land again
G C D G
And the captain said Jack Reilly you will die a convict man –G-G-C
D C G
With prison chains around his wrists that cut him to the bone
D C G
The captain said ‘Jack Reilly, son, your very soul I’ll wn
D Em C
I’ll bend and twist it to my will - for death you’ll surely pray
G C D G
But I’ll see you live to end your days in chains in Botany Bay –G-G-C
[Verse 2]
G D Em C
With quiet words Jack Reilly swore ‘The day will surely come
G C G C D
When I will slip these prison chains and justice will be done’
G D Em C
For three long weeks he took no bred, just water from the can
G C D G
And all his comrades around him swore he was the dying man –G-G-C
D C G
Until one night he slipped his chains and out of the door he ran
D C G
He grabbed a pistol from the guard and up the deck he sprang
D Em C
‘My name it is Jack Reilly and from Ireland I do come
G C D G
And neither man nor master has the right to tie me down!’ –G-G-C
[Verse 3]
G D Em C
Up to the captain’s door he went - no fear could slow him down
G C G C D
For he would show no mercy to the servant of the crown
G D Em C
The captain stepped out on the deck with cutlass in his hand
G C D G
‘Surrender or I’ll run you trough and drop where you stand!’ –G-G-C
D C G
The crew looked on in silence then and ne’er a murmur made
D C G
For they were tired and hungry men and not a word was said
D Dm C
Jack Reilly raised the pistol high, the captain made a frown
G D G
And with a single pistol shot he brought the captain down –G-G-C
[Verse 4]
G D Em C
The crew they said ‘Jack Reilly, mate, we’ll lower you o’er the side
G C G C D
Into the longboat you must go and bid this ship good bye
G D Em C
For there’s a man-o-war about - they’ll catch you if they can
G C D G
And from the yard down, Jack me boy, your body they will hang’ –G-G-C
D C . G
And so he turned the longboat round and to the rising sun
D C G
Five lonely days and nights he rowed till he was nearly done
D Em C
Then he heard the sound of breaking waves on free Australian sand
G C D G
And jumping from the longboat up on to the beach he swam –G-G-C
[Verse 5]
G D Em C
Through New South Wales he made his way beneath the burning sun
G C G C D
And ’cross the Murray River when a month was barely gone
G D Em C
T’was there he met an outlaw band, he told them of his plight
G C D G
They said ‘Brave man, Jack Reilly, you will ride with us tonight’ –G-G-C
D C G
They rode like devils through the dust across Australian plains
D C G
They robbed the banks in every town, they robbed the smoking trains
D Em C
Jack Reilly was the best of them, he rode from dusk till dawn
G C D G
He shot the bankers one by one - he shot the bankers down –G-G-C
[Verse 6]
G D Em C
The constables and troopers searched the land from miles around
G C G C D
Yet neither hide nor hair of him was nowhere to be found
G D Em C
The folks round here where Irish and they’d answer with a grin
G C D G
‘You say his name’s Jack Reilly? No - never heard of him…’ –G-G-C
D C G
For six long years he rode the bush, he led the outlaw band
D C G
He robbed the rich men from their gold, he took it from their hands
D Em C
No woman’s love could hold him down though many tried and failed
G C D G
Jack Reilly was a free man now and no man’s law of beyed -G-G-C
[Verse 7]
G D Em C
The time was passing quickly by and Jack was slowing down
G C G C D
One day he left the outlaw band for Queensland he was bound
G D Em C
He spurred his teams old pony as he headed for the line
G C D G
With the constables and troopers getting closer all the time –G-G-C
D C G
He rode through Bullawarra on a cold and moonlight night
D C G
The troopers closed behind him, well, they found him at daylight
D Em C
Six carbine shots rang out that dawn that took his life away
G C D G
And that was how Jack Reilly died way down in Botany Bay
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