D                         G                     D    
The dirt was clay and was the color of the blood in me 
  D                     G                    A 
A twelve acre farm on a ridge in south Tennessee 
   Bm                  A                       G                                  D 
We left that sweat all over that land behind a mule we watched grow old row after row 
          D                       G                   A     G     D 
Trying to grow corn and cotton on ground so poor that grass won’t grow 
 
          D                    G                    D 
There was one old store in the hollow we all called town 
     D                      G               A 
It belonged to a gentle old man named Henry Brown 
   Bm                    A                      G                                           Bm 
He gave us credit in the wintertime so we could live through the cold when the wind brought snow 
          D                       G         Em        A     G     D  
Trying to grow corn and cotton on ground so poor that grass won’t grow 
 
Solo 
 
Key Change: 
    D#                 G#                        D# 
The one I loved walked through those fields with me 
          D#                 G#                A# 
She was a hard working woman true as one could be 
    Bm                      A#               G#                                   D# 
But then one year death was going 'round and swiftly took it’s toll, Janie had to go 
        D#                G#                  A#    G#    D# 
Now she lies asleep under ground so poor that grass won’t grow 
 
 
Key Change: 
     E                       A                  E 
As I stand here looking over this part of Tennessee 
    E                  A                  B7  
The fields are bare as far as the eye can see 
    C#m                  E                    A                                    E 
And over the grave where Janie lies there’s a beautiful sight to behold And no one knows  
            E                  A                   B7    A     D 
Why there’s flowers growing on ground so poor that grass won’t grow