Catfish John

Ricky Skaggs

Written by Bob McDill, Allen Reynolds

Key of C · Chords: I IV V

Verse 1

C                            F
Mama said don't go near that river
C                                   G7
Don't be hanging around old Catfish John
C                                  F
But come the morning I'd always be there
C                           G7          C
Walking in his footsteps in sweet delta dawn

Verse 2

       F                C
Let me dream of another morning
      F            C
And a time so long ago
         F               C
When the sweet magnolias blossomed
                      G7            C
And the cotton fields were white as snow

Verse 3

        F                C
Catfish John was a river hobo
             F                 C
He lived and died on the river bend
         F            C
Thinking back I still remember
                  G7  C
I was proud to be his friend

Verse 1

C                            F
Mama said don't go near that river
C                                   G7
Don't be hanging around old Catfish John
C                                  F
But come the morning I'd always be there
C                           G7          C
Walking in his footsteps in sweet delta dawn

Verse 4

       F                    C
Born a slave in the town of Vicksburg
       F              C
Traded for a chestnut mare
      F                   C
Still he never spoke a in anger
                G7          C
Though his load was hard to bear

Verse 1

C                            F
Mama said don't go near that river
C                                   G7
Don't be hanging around old Catfish John
C                                  F
But come the morning I'd always be there
C                           G7          C
Walking in his footsteps in sweet delta dawn

Verse 5

                               F
Come the morning I'd always be there
C                           G7          C
Walking in his footsteps in sweet delta dawn