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The Cremation Of Sam McGee by Johnny Cash
The Cremation Of Sam McGee
NOTE: The Cremation of Sam McGee is the only poem I ever memorized even a part of in High School. My English teacher, Mr. O’Shaunnesey had a great voice and I loved the poem. The only recording I have ever been able to find is Johnny Cash who recites it with some soft music in the background. When a friend and I started working on performing Bob Dylan’s Days of ’49, I realized that it scanned perfectly, so I shamelessly stole Dylan’s chord progressions and put them here. The poem has no chorus, so I just repeated the last two lines to make a sort of chorus. If you don’t like them, just ignore them. As for a picking pattern, I find this works best with a very basic fingerpicking style – T12321T12321.
Tuning:E A D G B E
Capo:no capo
As for a picking pattern, I find this works best with a very basic
fingerpicking style – T12321T12321.
((Spoken))
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
Am G Am G Am Am G Am G Am C Am C Am C Am G Am
[Verse 1]
G
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee,
Am G Am
where the cotton blooms and blows.
G
Why he left his home in the South to roam
Am G Am
'round the Pole, God only knows.
C Am
He was always cold, but the land of gold
C Am
seemed to hold him like a spell;
C Am
Though he'd often say in his homely way
G Am
that "he'd sooner live in hell."
C Am
Though he'd often say in his homely way
G Am
that "he'd sooner live in hell."
[Verse 2]
G
On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way
Am G Am
over the Dawson trail.
G
Talk of your cold! Through the parka's fold
Am G Am
it stabbed like a driven nail.
C Am
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze
C Am
‘till sometimes we couldn't see;
C Am
It wasn't much fun, but the only one
G Am
to whimper was Sam Mc Gee.
C Am
It wasn't much fun, but the only one
G Am
to whimper was Sam Mc Gee.
[Verse 3]
G
And that very night, as we lay packed tight
Am G Am
in our robes be neath the snow,
G
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead
Am G Am
were dancing heel and toe,
C Am
He turned to me, and "Cap," says he,
C Am
"I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
C Am
And if I do, I'm asking that you
G Am
won't re fuse my last re quest."
C Am
And if I do, I'm asking that you
G Am
won't re mfuse my last re quest."
[Verse 4]
G
Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no;
Am G Am
then he says with a sort of moan:
G
"It's the cursèd cold, and it's got right hold
Am G Am
till I'm chilled clean through to the bone.
C Am
Yet 'tain't being dead—it's my awful dread
C Am
of the icy grave that pains;
C Am
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair,
G Am
you'll cremate my last re mains."
C Am
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair,
G Am
you'll cremate my last re mains."
[Verse 5]
G
A pal's last need is a thing to heed,
Am G Am
so I swore I would not fail;
G
And we started on at the streak of dawn
Am G Am
but God! he looked ghastly pale.
C Am
He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day
C Am
of his home in Tennes see;
C Am
And be fore nightfall a corpse was all
G Am
that was left of Sam Mc Gee.
C Am
And be fore nightfall a corpse was all
G Am
that was left of Sam Mc Gee.
[Verse 6]
G
There wasn't a breath in that land of death,
Am G Am
and I hurried, horror driven,
G
With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid,
Am G Am
Be cause of a promise given;
C Am
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say:
C Am
"You may tax your brawn and brains,
C Am
But you promised true, and it's up to you
G Am
to cremate those last re mains.
C Am
But you promised true, and it's up to you
G Am
to cremate those last re mains.
[Verse 7]
G
Now a promise made is a debt unpaid,
Am G Am
and the trail has its own stern code.
G
In the days to come, though my lips were dumb,
Am G Am
in my heart how I cursed that load.
C Am
In the long, long night, by the lone firelight,
C Am
while the huskies, round in a ring,
C Am
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows—
G Am
O God! how I loathed the thing.
C Am
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows—
G Am
O God! how I loathed the thing.
[Verse 8]
G
And every day that quiet clay
Am G Am
seemed to heavy and heavier grow;
G
And on I went, though the dogs were spent
Am G Am
and the grub was getting low;
C Am
The trail was bad, and I felt half mad,
C Am
but I swore I would not give in;
C Am
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing,
G Am
and it hearkened with a grin.
C Am
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing,
G Am
and it hearkened with a grin.
[Verse 9]
G
Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge,
Am G Am
and a dere lict there lay;
G
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice
Am G Am
it was called the "Alice May."
C Am
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit,
C Am
and I looked at my frozen chum;
C Am
Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry,
G Am
"is my cre-ma-tor-e um."
C Am
Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry,
G Am
"is my cre-ma-tor-e um."
[Verse 10]
G
Some planks I tore from the cabin floor,
Am G Am
and I lit the boiler fire;
G
Some coal I found that was lying around,
Am G Am
and I heaped the fuel higher;
C Am
The flames just soared, and the furnace roared—
C Am
such a blaze you seldom see;
C Am
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal,
G Am
and I stuffed in Sam Mc Gee.
C Am
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal,
G Am
and I stuffed in Sam Mc Gee.
[Verse 11]
G
Then I made a hike, for I didn't like
Am G Am
to hear him sizzle so;
G
And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled,
Am G Am
and the wind be gan to blow.
C Am
It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled
C Am
down my cheeks, and I don't know why;
C Am
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak
G Am
went streaking down the sky.
C Am
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak
G Am
went streaking down the sky.
[Verse 12]
G
I do not know how long in the snow
Am G Am
I wrestled with grisly fear;
G
But the stars came out and they danced about
Am G Am
Ere again I ventured near;
C Am
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said:
C Am
"I'll just take a peep in side.
C Am
I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked";
G Am
... then the door I opened wide.
C Am
I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked";
G Am
... then the door I opened wide.
[Verse 13]
G
And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm,
Am G Am
in the heart of the furnace roar;
G
And he wore a smile you could see a mile,
Am G Am
and he said: "Please close that door.
C Am
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear
C Am
you'll let in the cold and storm—
C Am
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee,
G Am
it's the first time I've been warm."
C Am
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee,
G Am
it's the first time I've been warm."
Am G Am G Am Am G Am G Am C Am C Am C Am G Am
((Spoken))
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
---------