Two Soldiers
from Andrew Mullins (mullins@ARTSCI.Concordia.CA) and Michael Collins
(collins_michael@bah.com)
Two Soldiers
Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan
G G6 G C g F (1)
He was just a blue-eyed Boston boy
F C Csus4 C
His voice was low with pain
G G6 G C g F
I'll do your bidding, comrade mine,
F C Csus4 C
If I ride back again.
G G6 G7 C (2)
But if you ride back and I am left
G G6 G7 G
You'll do as much for me
G G6 G C g F
Mother, you know, must hear the news
F C Csus4 C
So write to her tenderly.
She's a-waiting at home like a patient saint
Her fallen face paled with woe
Her heart would be broken when I am gone
I'll see her soon, I know.
Just then the order came to charge
For an instant hand touched hand
They said "aye" and away they rode
That brave and devoted band
Straight was the track to the top of the hill
The rebels they shot and shelled
Plowed furroughs of death through the toiling ranks
And guarded them as they fell.
There soon came a horrible dying yell
From heights that they could not gain
And those whom doom and death had spared
Rode slowly down again.
But among the dead that were left on the hill
Was the boy with the curly hair
The tall dark man who rode by his side
Lay dead beside him there.
There's no one to write to the blue-eyed girl
The words that her lover had said
Mama, you know, awaits the news
And soon only know he's dead.
Notes: Two Soldiers is basically A7, D, G but I believe it is played with a
capo at the 2nd fret using G, C, F positions. This allows you to get that
melodic line running through the lower three strings.
(1) G6 is just a hammer-on the D string 2nd fret
g is just a passing tone on the lower E string
F played as a barre chord
(2) G7 here is just a walk-up from the G6, i.e. G7=3x300x or 32300x --
keeping in mind the capo