The Ballad of Billie Sol

By Phil Ochs

G
Billie Sol was a man
         C           G
From the giant Texas land
                                    D7
He put the Chamber of Commerce on a limb
G
They voted him the best
        C                 G
And the government did no less
                      D7            G
Until the I.O.U.'s of Texas fell on him
      C                          G 
Stand tall, Billie Sol, we don't know you at all
                                        D7
We've taken down your pictures from the wall
      G                          C
Well, we don't want to handle an agriculture scandal
        G           D7               G
We have got to face elections in the fall

I remember when
Bill had influential friends
He celebrated Christmas every day
He filled texas banks with his fertilizer tanks
Influential friends don't die they only fade away
Stand tall, Billie Sol, we don't know you at all
We've taken down your pictures from the wall
Well, we don't want to handle an agriculture scandal
We have got to face elections in the fall

The democrats deny
And Orville Freeman sighs
He said "Everyone around was fair and square"
But He was no more convincing
than Ezra Taft Benson
As resignations cropped up everywhere
Stand tall, Billie Sol, we don't know you at all
We've taken down your pictures from the wall
Well, we don't want to handle an agriculture scandal
We have got to face elections in the fall

And now I'd like to say
that crime sure doesn't pay
But if you want to make some money on the sly
Well you can always rent
The U.S. Government
It's the best one that money can buy.
Stand tall, Billie Sol
We don't know you at all
We've take down your pictures from the wall
Well, we don't want to handle
and agriculture scandal
We have got to face elections in the fall

Notes:

Chords supplied by James Barnett.