(Capo 7th fret)
  D C G Am add2 add2 (x2)
                 D                Am             C    G        Am   add2 add2
      There were three men came out of the West
                D            C   G   Am   add2 add2
      Their fortunes for to try
      And these three men made a solemn vow
      John Barleycorn must die

                                     C                                      C/B       Am
                       They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
                                  C         D          Esus4    E add4
                       Threw clods upon his head

             Dm              Am               C G      Am    add2 add2
      And these three men made a solemn vow
               D        C     G     Am    add2 add2
      John Barleycorn was dead
                  *Interlude*    D C G Am add2 add2 (x4)

      They've let him lie for a very long time
      'Til the rains from heaven did fall
      And little Sir John sprung up his head
      And so amazed them all

                       They've let him stand 'til midsummer's day
                       'Til he looked both pale and wan

      And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
      And so become a man
                  *Interlude*    D C G Am add2 add2 (x4)

      They've hired men with the scythes so sharp
      To cut him off at the knee
      They've rolled him and tied him by the way
      Serving him most barbarously

                       They've hired men with the sharp pitchforks
                       Who pricked him to the heart

      And the loader he has served him worse than that
      For he's bound him to the cart
                  *Interlude*    D C G Am add2 add2 (x4)

      They've wheeled him around and around the field
      'Til they came unto a barn
      And there they made a solemn oath
      On poor John Barleycorn

                       They've hired men with the crab-tree sticks
                       To cut him skin from bone

      And the miller he has served him worse than that
      For he's ground him between two stones
                  *Interlude*    D C G Am add2 add2 (x4)

      And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl
      And he's brandy in the glass
      And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl
      Proved the strongest man at last

                       The huntsman, he can't hunt the fox
                       Nor so loudly to blow his horn

      And the tinker he can't mend kettle nor pot
              D                C   G  A5
      Without a little barleycorn...