The Hostage chords by Tom Paxton

SimplifiedEm · A · C · B

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Verse 1
Em 
THE HOSTAGE Tom Paxton
A 
C 
B 
Em 
A 
Em 
I'm a guard in the great iron prison,
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Em 
at least I was 'till now.
C 
It was never a picnic social,
Em 
never a date.
They never come in laughing and you
C 
Em 
know they never taught them how
C 
It was damn hard work,
Em 
and you wouldn't believe the pay.

Verse 2
Em 
It was early in the morning, Lord,
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Em 
I wasn't but a half awake,
C 
When the Cons went nuts,
Em 
and took us by surprise.
I never was one for shaking,
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Em 
but I found it hard to stand,
C 
With a six- inch blade held right
Em 
between my eyes.

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Verse 3
Em 
We could hear a siren blowing,
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Em 
somebody yelled in pain.
C 
Then it got so quiet,
Em 
you could hear a bird walk by.
They all had masks on their faces,
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Em 
and they spoke with a voice of Cain
C 
"If they come in shooting,
Em 
then you know you're bound to die.
C 
If they come in shooting,
then you know you're bound to die."
Em 

Verse 4
Em 
I turned to a buddy named Willie,
C 
Em 
I said "Willie It'll be all right,
C 
If they meant to kill us we'd be
Em 
half way down to  Hell.
See, they high- jacked a plane in the dessert,
C 
and the government screamed and cries,
Em 
C 
But to save some lives,
Em 
they opened up a prison cell".

Verse 5
Em 
So the days kept coming and going,
C 
Em 
tension was getting high.
C 
But I wasn't too worried,
Em 
I figured I knew the score.
I knew they were talking to someone,
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Em 
I knew they were willing to try.
C 
So I figured my freedom was
Em 
a matter of a day or two more.

Verse 6
Em 
But, Jesus, early this morning,
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Em 
the whirlybird dropped the gas,
C 
It made me puke and it brought
Em 
me to my knees.
The bullets came like hail- stones,
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Em 
I heard the first ones pass,
C 
Then they cut down Willie,
Em 
and they got Jim Kelly and me.
C 
They cut down Willie,
Em 
and they got Jim Kelly and me.

Verse 7
Em 
They come in  yelling curses,
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Em 
like they were caught in the River Rhine
C 
Shot down every God damned
Em 
thing they saw.
And while I lay they wounded,
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Em 
I took another one in my spine,
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Em 
Poor Jim Kelly took another one in his jaw.
Oh, Poor Jim Kelly took another

Verse 8
one in his jaw.
Em 
They say we had our throats cut,
C 
Em 
by a band of desperate men,
C 
Say they saved as many of
Em 
us as they could.
Well the governor he should now it,
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Em 
but I think I'll say it again
C 
That the governor cut my
Em 
throat and he cut it good.

Verse 9
Em 
Let them take the governor,
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Em 
hold him for a couple of days.
C 
Em 
See who goes in shooting to set him free.
Hell they'll open every jail in the country,
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Em 
they'd send them on their way
C 
They'd never do to him what
Em 
the governor done to me.
C 
They'd never do to him what the governor