Cowboy's Prayer Chords

KeyA CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays431

Cowboy's Prayer by Johnny Cash is a beginner-friendly guitar song played in the key of A. It uses the chords A and E. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
A
Text
16
Speed
  			(verse 1) 
      A 
Lord, I've never lived where churches grow,  
                               E 
I loved creation better as it stood, 
 
That day you finished it so long ago, 
                                         A     
And looked upon your work and called it good, 
 
 
 
(verse 2) 
       A 
I know that others find you in the light, 
                                        E 
That sifted down through tinted window panes, 
  
And yet I seem to feel you near tonight 
                                     A 
In this dim, quiet starlight on the plains, 
 
  
 
(verse 3) 
     A 
I thank you, Lord, that I'm placed so well, 
                                 E 
That you've made my freedom so complete, 
 
That I'm no slave to whistle, clock or bell, 
                                 A   
Nor weak eyed prisoner of Wall Street, 
 
 
 
(verse 4) 
         A 
Just let me live my life as I've begun, 
                                     E 
And give me work that's open to the sky, 
  
Make me a partner of the wind and sun, 
                                      A 
And I won't ask a life that's soft or high, 
 
 
 
(verse 5) 
        A 
Let me be easy on the man that's down, 
                                   E 
Let me be square and generous with all, 
 
I'm careless sometimes, Lord, when I'm in town, 
                                   A 
But never let 'em say I'm mean or small, 
 

    	

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