C Am C Am C Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window C Am C Am G Am Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see Dm Am He's riding into town on a sway back mule Dm Am Got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool Dm F G He sure is talkin' like he's been to school, Am G Am And it's 1853 [Verse 2] C Am C Am C Hey Nelly Nelly, listen what he's sayin' C Am C Am G Am Hey Nelly Nelly, he says it's gettin' late Dm Am Says all them black folks should all be free Dm Am To walk around the same as you and me Dm F G He's talkin' 'bout a thing he calls democracy, Am G Am And it's 1858 [Verse 3] C Am C Am C Hey Nelly Nelly, hear the band a playing C Am C Am G Am Hey Nelly Nelly, hand me down my gun Dm Am Cause the men are cheerin and the boys are too Dm Am They're all puttin' on their coats of blue Dm F G I can't sit around here and talk to you, Am G Am Cause it's 1861 [Verse 4] C Am C Am C Hey Nelly Nelly, Come to the window C Am C Am G Am Hey Nelly Nelly, I've come back alive Dm Am My coat of blue is stained with red Dm Am And the man in the tall black hat is dead Dm F G We sure will remember all the things he said, Am G Am And it's 1865 [Verse 5] C Am C Am C Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window C Am C Am G Am Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see Dm Am I see white folks and coloured walkin' side by side Dm Am They're marchin' in a column that's a century wide Dm F G It's still a long and a hard and a bloody ride, Am G Am And it's 1963