Copperhead Road

Steve Earle

Key of G · Chords: I IV V

Intro

D

Riff 1

Riff 2
* PLAY RIFF 1 AFTER EACH VERSE LINE

Verse 1

D
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
D
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
D
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
        G                  C         G
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
D
He headed up the holler with everything he had
     G                  C         G
It's before my time but I've been told
D
He never came back from Copperhead Road

Verse 2

D
Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
D
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
D
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
         G                          C             G
Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
D
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
       G                                 C      G
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
D (LET RING)
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road

Break

D C

Instrumental

G C G D

Verse 3

D
I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway
D
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
And I came home with a brand new plan
D
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
         G              C              G
Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
D
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
  G                               C                 G
I learned a thing or two from ol' Charlie don't you know
D
You better stay away from Copperhead Road

Break

D C

Riff 1

Riff 2
* PLAY RIFF 1 AFTER EACH VERSE LINE

Verse 4

| p  Pull-off
| \  Slide down