Learn to play "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" on your guitar with our chord guide. This page provides everything you need to perform this song on the guitar, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.
For easier playing, use our Simplify Chords feature to remove difficult chords like barre.
G Em F Fsus4 From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia, G Em F C D rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand G Em And his daring life of crime, F C made him a legend in his time G Am7 D7sus4 East and west of the Rio Grande Well, he started with a bank in Colorado In the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid And his age and his size Took the teller by surprise And the word spread of Billy the Kid Chorus: C D Em Well, he never traveled heavy, yes, he always Bm rode alone C C/D G7sus4 And he soon put many older guns to shame C D Em And he never had a sweetheart, and he never had Bm a home C Dsus4 D But the cowboy and the rancher knew his name Well, he robbed his way From Utah to Oklahoma And the law just could not seem To track him down And it served his legend well For the folks they loved to tell 'Bout when Billy the Kid came to town Well, one cold day a posse captured Billy And the judge said, "String him up For what he did." And the cowboys and their kin Like the sea came pouring in To watch the hanging of Billy the Kid Chorus: And he never traveled heavy Yes he always rode alone And he soon put many older guns to shame And he never had a sweetheart But he finally found a home Underneath the boot hill grave That bears his name From a town known As Oyster Bay, Long Island Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand And his daring life of crime Made him a legend in his time East and west of the Rio Grande You can simplify chords by removing barre | TransposeReset Font SizeReset Guitar Chord DiagramsAm7 Bm C D D7sus4 Dsus4 Em F Fsus4 G G7sus4 Here you can see detailed diagrams for each guitar chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably. |
If you are also interested in learning how to play "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" by Billy Joel.