Tabbed by Jim Robinson
Steve Earle
The Mountain
Standard Tuning, capo 2nd fret
This is the version Steve has often played solo acoustic with a little slower tempo than
the album version. Find it on Youtube to hear the more subtle chord variations and turnarounds.
C/G Am
I was born on this mountain a long time ago
C/G Dm F Am
Before they knocked down the timber and strip-mined the coal
C/G Am
When you rose in the mornin' before it was light
C/G Dm Am G
To go down in that dark hole and come back up at night
C/G Am
I was born on this mountain, this mountain's my home
C/G Dm F G
She holds me and keeps me from worry and woe
C/G Am
Well, they took everything that she gave, now they're gone
C/G Dm F C/G
But I'll die on this mountain, this mountain's my home
C/G Am
I was young on this mountain but now I am old
C/G Dm F Am
And I knew every holler, every cool swimmin' hole
C/G Am
Till one night I lay down and woke up to find
C/G Dm F Am
G
That my childhood was over and I went down in the mine
C/G Am
I was born on this mountain, this mountain's my home
C/G Dm F G
She holds me and keeps me from worry and woe
C/G Am
Well, they took everything that she gave, now they're gone
C/G Dm F C/G
But I'll die on this mountain, this mountain's my home
SOLO
C/G Am
There's a hole in this mountain and it's dark and it's deep
C/G Dm F Am
And God only knows all the secrets it keeps
C/G Am
There's a chill in the air only miners can feel
C/G Dm F Am
G
There're ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed
C/G Am
I was born on this mountain, this mountain's my home
C/G Dm F G
She holds me and keeps me from worry and woe
C/G Am
Well, they took everything that she gave, now they're gone
C/G Dm F C/G
But I'll die on this mountain, this mountain's my home
