They Took It Away Chords

KeyG CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays431

They Took It Away by Jason Boland is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of G. It uses the chords G, D, A, Bm and Em. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
G
Text
16
Speed
  			
Intro: G  D  A  Bm  G  D  A  D  

verse 1 
   D                      A     D 
My kin come to Texas from Tennessee  
          G          A         D 
With Davy Crockett a long time ago 
D                        A         D 
     I guess it's pretty lucky for me 
            Em               G    A  G  
They didn't all go to the Alamo 
                    D 
They fought to make Texas free 
         Em                G    A  G   
From the armies of Old Mexico 
                              D 
They must have thought it was something to be  
     Em                        G      A  G  
In a land where a family could grow 

                 D    G                D    
So they took it away     they took it away again 
G                              D 
     I wonder what those brave women and men  
            Em              G       A  G  
Would do if they came back around 
                D 
What would they say  
G                             D 
     About the way everything has been 
G                            D 
     I don't think they were trying to win   
           Em                 G       A  D  
A place to put poison in the ground 

verse 2 
      D          A        D 
Now I live on an Oklahoma hill  
         G            A       D 
It ain't Texas but it used to be 
D                        A        D 
     Back before Jackson signed a deal  
           Em          G      A  G  
To make it Indian Territory 
                       D 
In the winter that was freezin' cold  
     Em               G     A  G  
They marched the Cherokee  
                     D 
In the land rush the settlers stole  
      Em                    G    A  G  
every place that they could be    
 
              D    G                D 
They took it away     they took it away again 
G                                D 
     They had the sword and they had the pen 
           Em                 G      A  G  
Worse than Spaniards come for gold 
              D    G                D 
They took it away     they took it away again 
G                        D 
     Now they poison the lakes and the lands 
           Em                G       A  D  
That their great grandfather stole 

Instrumental 
G  D  G  D  G  D  Em  G  D  

verse 3  
D                          A           D 
     Something happened in between the time  
       G            A      D 
It was home for the outlaw man 
D                            A        D 
     And this time I like to think is mine  
              Em                    G      A  G  
Is just where all the oil money has been 
                D 
How can anybody make a meal 
          Em                   G      A  G  
From what they can't afford to grow 
                   D 
What's going to be left to steal  
           Em               G       A  G  
When there are no more free souls 
 
              D    G                D 
They took it away     they took it away again  
G                         D 
     How much time do you have to spend  
        Em                  G    A  G  
Just to get them to let you be 
         D    G           D 
Take it away     take it away again 
G                        D             Em          G 
     I always want to be livin' in the land of the free  
    A           D 
The land of the free! 
    	

Chord diagrams

Guitar tuner

--
Start the tuner and play a string

Reference tones

Standard tuning, lowest to highest. Click a string to play it; the string the mic hears is highlighted.

Click Start tuner and allow microphone access. The needle centers and turns green when a string is in tune (within 5 cents).
No microphone? You can still tap any string above to hear its exact reference pitch.

Metronome

100 BPM Andante