Skip to content

Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys chords by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson (Official Version)

OfficialD · G · A · E · B

GuitarPianoUkulele

D
G
A
E
B

Verse 1
D 
D 
 (D major)  (D major) 
D 
 (D major) Cowboys ain't easy to love
G 
and they're harder to  (G major) hold
A 
 (A major) They'd rather give you a song
D 
than diamonds or  (D major) gold
Lonestar belt buckles and old faded Levis
G 
And  (G major) each night begins a new day
A 
If you don't  (A major) understand him,
and he don't die young
D 
He'll probably just ride a (D major) way

Chorus 1
D 
 (D major) Mamas, don't let your babies grow up
G 
to be  (G major) cowboys
A 
Don't  (A major) let 'em pick guitars
or drive them old trucks
D 
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and  (D major) such
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up
G 
to be  (G major) cowboys
A 
'Cause they'll  (A major) never stay home
and they're always alone
D 
Even with someone they  (D major) love

New- Play with audio & scroll
Upgrade to play 20,000+ songs ads free, and enjoy playing with music.
Get now
Verse 2
E 
 (E major) Cowboys like smoky old pool rooms
A 
and clear mountain mornings  (A major) 
B 
 (B major) Little warm puppies and children
E 
and girls of the night  (E major) 
Them that don't know him
won't like him and them that do
A 
 (A major) Sometimes won't know how to take him
B 
He ain't  (B major) wrong, he's just different
but his pride won't let him
E 
Do things to make you think he's  (E major) right

Chorus 2
E 
 (E major) Mamas, don't let your babies grow up
A 
to be  (A major) cowboys
B 
Don't  (B major) let 'em pick guitars
or drive them old trucks
E 
Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and  (E major) such
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up
A 
to be  (A major) cowboys
B 
'Cause they'll  (B major) never stay home
and they're always alone
E 
Even with someone they  (E major) love
[Repead and fade]

Unlock All Tools

100+ tunings, chord games & metronome

GuitarPianoUkulele

0

D
G
A
E
B

Tuning: E A D G B EDifficulty: BeginnerKey: D majorBPM: 84

How did you like the song?

5.0 (2)

You need to to leave a rating.

5.0 (2)953 views

Finger positions, low to high (E A D G B e). 0 is open, x is muted.

D: x-x-0-2-3-2
G: 3-2-0-0-0-3
A: x-0-2-2-2-0
E: 0-2-2-1-0-0
B: x-2-4-4-4-x

Accurately transcribed by the GuitarTuna team.

Most chord-change problems come from the strumming hand, not the fretting hand. The basic strumming course covers the patterns and timing that make any chord progression easier to play. Practice basic strumming

Even perfectly fretted chords sound wrong on an out-of-tune guitar. Get in tune in seconds, right in your browser, with the free online guitar tuner

This is the definitive original version of Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, transcribed exactly as it was recorded in the studio. Unlike our simplified arrangement, this chart preserves the precise chord voicings and progressions in the original key of D major. It suits players who want to learn Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys the way Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson intended, without oversimplifying the arrangement.

Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson

More songs by Willie Nelson

Discover chords for more songs to play

Always On My Mind

4.9

32.2K

On the Road Again

4.8

12.2K

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

4.8

6.7K

Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground

4.7

1.6K

Whiskey River

5.0

2.6K

Crazy

4.9

2K

Pancho And Lefty

4.8

2.2K

Related songs

Discover chords for more songs to play

Honky Tonk Heroes

Waylon Jennings

5.0

610

You Ask Me To

Waylon Jennings

5.0

214

Lord, Mr. Ford

Jerry Reed

5.0

90

I'm A Ramblin' ManTabs

Waylon Jennings

4.8

785

You Never Even Called Me By My Name

David Allan Coe

4.9

2.1K

Annie's SongTabs

John Denver

4.8

54.6K

Amanda

Waylon Jennings

5.0

942

Featured in collections

Browse collections that include this song

Easy

Outlaw Country

Recently added

Recently added chords & tabs

Himig Ng Pag-ibig

Asin

Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang

Freestyle, Pops Fernandez

So Slow

Freestyle

1

Beautiful Drug

Zac Brown Band

1

This Time

Freestyle

1

you are

Tenth Avenue North

1

Ave Maria, D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6 (Ellens Gesang III)

Franz Schubert