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intermediate

Ole Slewfoot

Key: G

Chords: 3

Carter Family Doc Watson Billy Strings Jerry Garcia

Jam Along

Chord Chart

A

G

G

G

G

G

G

C

G

G

G

G

G

G

G

G

C

G

G

B

D

D

G

G

D

D

G

G

G

G

G

G

G

G

C

G

G

Chords used: C D G

Lyrics

High on a mountain, tell me what do you see Bear tracks bear tracks looking back at me Better get your rifles before its too late The bear's got a little pig and he's headed for the gate

He's big around the middle and broad across the rump Running ninety miles an hour, taking thirty feet a jump Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been treed And some folks say he looks a lot like me

Saved up my money and bought me some bees Started making honey way up in the trees Cut down the trees but the honey's all gone Old slew foot has done made himself at home Winter's coming on and it's forty below River's froze over, so where can he go I'll chase him up the gully and run him in the well Shoot him in the bottom just to listen to him yell

Demo Videos

About This Song

Ole Slewfoot is a swamp-dwelling bear tale popularized by Porter Wagoner in 1953, though it's been covered by everyone from Johnny Cash to Billy Strings. Doc Watson's version is a bluegrass jam favorite, and Jerry Garcia used to break it out with Old & In The Way.

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