Black Jack County Chains✓

I was standing by the road in Black Jack County

Not knowing that the sheriff paid a bounty

For men like me who didn't have a penny to their name

He locked my legs in thirty-five pounds of Black Jack County chain

All we had to eat was bread and water

Every day we had to build his road a mile and a quarter

A black snake whip would sting our backs if some poor fool complained

But we couldn't fight back wearing thirty-five pounds of Black Jack County chain

Then one night while the sheriff lay a-sleeping

We all gathered round him, slowly creeping

Heaven help me to forget that night in the cold, cold rain

When we beat him to death wearing thirty-five pounds of Black Jack County chain

The wounds have all healed and I am thankful

And there's nothing left but scars around my ankle

But best of all, no man will ever be a slave again

To a black snake whip and thirty-five pounds of Black Jack County chain