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Mama Tried by Merle Haggard - Guitar Chords

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Version 1 Version 2

            [Intro]
   D
e|-----------------------------------|--pb12(13)-----------------------|
B|-----10-----10-----8-----7-----7---|-----------13--pb5(6)---/3--/3---|
G|---7------7------7-----7-----7---7-|---------------------5--/2--/2---|
D|-0------0------0-----0-----0-------|-------------------------0---0---|
A|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|

[Verse 1]
                D          G             D                G
The first thing I remember knowing was a lonesome whistle blowin'
      D                                 A7
And a young un's dream of growin' up to ride
     D                     G         D                 G
On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I'm bound
       D                   A7             D
And no one could change my mind, but Mama tried

[Verse 2]
        D          G             D               G
One and only rebel child, from a family meek and mild
    D                               A7
My Mama seemed to know what lay in store
          D             G                    D             G
'Spite of all my Sunday learnin', toward the bad I kept on turnin'
     D             A7         D
'Til Mama couldn't hold me anymore

[Chorus]
              D                         G               D
And I turned twenty-one in prison doin' life without parole
   Bm                                 A7
No one could steer me right, but Mama tried, Mama tried
     D                                 G             D
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied,
                       A7                 D
that leaves only me to blame, 'cause Mama tried

[Guitar Solo]
    D                     G
e|--pb12(13)----------------------------|
B|-----------13--pb5(6)-------3---3-5-3-|
G|---------------------5--2/4---4-------|
D|--------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------|

   D               A7              D
e|---------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------pb5(6)r---|
G|-------------------------------------------5-|
D|---0-0-3-0-0-5-0-0-6-5-3-0-3-5---0-----------|
A|-4-------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------|

[Verse 3]
          D               G               D            G
Dear old Daddy, rest his soul, he left my mom a heavy load
      D                            A7
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes
          D           G           D               G
Workin' hours without rest, wanted me to have the best
    D                 A7             D
She tried to raise me right, but I refused

[Chorus]
              D                         G               D
And I turned twenty-one in prison doin' life without parole
   Bm                                 A7
No one could steer me right, but Mama tried, Mama tried
     D                                 G             D
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied,
                       A7                 D
that leaves only me to blame, 'cause Mama tried

[Outro]
   D
e|-----------------------------------|--pb12(13)-----------------------|
B|-----10-----10-----8-----7-----7---|-----------13--pb5(6)---/3--/3---|
G|---7------7------7-----7-----7---7-|---------------------5--/2--/2---|
D|-0------0------0-----0-----0-------|-------------------------0---0---|
A|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|


**************************

| pb  Pre-bend
| r   Release
| /   Slide up

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We also have 31 songs by Merle Haggard

• A Place To Fall Apart
• Are The Good Times Really Over
• Big City
• Branded Man
• Daddy Frank
• Hungry Eyes
• I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am
• I Think Ill Just Stay Here And Drink
• If I Could Only Fly
• If We Make It Through December
• Im A Lonesome Fugitive
• Kern River
• Mama Tried
• Misery And Gin
• Miss The Mississippi And You
• My Favorite Memory
• Okie From Muskogee
• Ramblin Fever
• Reasons To Quit
• Silver Wings
• Sing Me Back Home
• Somewhere Between
• Swinging Doors
• Thats The Way Love Goes
• The Bottle Let Me Down
• The Fightin Side Of Me
• The Running Kind
• The Way I Am
• Today I Started Loving You Again
• Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star
• Working Man Blues

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