Bob Dylan - Black Cross (Hezekiah Jones): chords

                                  G D
This is the story of Hezekiah Jones.
Hezekiah Jones lived in a place in Arkansas.
              G      C G
He never had too much,
                        G D
except he had some land,
An' he had a couple of hogs and things like that.

G
He never had much money
         C     G
But he spent what
he did make as fast as he made it,
                                   G D
So it never really mattered that he had much money.

                       G C G
But in a cupboard there,
                       G D
He kept in the cupboard...
he kept in the cupboard books,
                                     G C G
He called the books his "rainy season."

The white folks around the county
there talked about Hezekiah...
They said, "Well old Hezekiah,
he's harmless enough,
but the way I see it he better put
down them goddam books,
Readin' ain't no good, for an ignorant nigger."

One day the white man's preacher came around
Knockin' on doors, knockin' on
all the doors in the county,
He knocked on Hezekiah's door.
He says, "Hezekiah, you believe in the Lord?"
Hezekiah says, "Well,
I don't know, I never really SEEN the Lord,
I can't say, yes, I do..."

He says, "Hezekiah, you believe in the Church?"
Hezekiah says, "Well,
the Church is divided, ain't they,
And they can't make up their minds.
I'm just like them, I can't make up mine either."

He says, "Hezekiah, you believe
that if a man is good Heaven is his last reward?"
Hezekiah says, "I'm good good as my neighbor."

"You don't believe in nothin',"
said the white man's preacher,
You don't believe in nothin'!"
"Oh yes, I do," says Hezekiah,
"I believe that a man
should be indebted to his neighbor
Not for the reward of Heaven or fear of hellfire."

"But you don't understand,"
said the white man's preacher,
"There's a lot of good ways
for a man to be wicked..."

Then they hung Hezekiah high as a pigeon.
White folks around there said,
"Well he had it comin'

'Cause the son-of-a-bitch never had no religion!"